Spirit

spir-it (spir' it) n. 1.a The vital principle or animating force within living beings. 5.a. The part of a human being associated with the mind, will, and feelings. b. The essential nature of a person or group. 9. A particular mood or emotional state characterized by vigor and animation. 10. Strong loyalty or dedication.

I can't say exactly when I adopted the moniker of "Spirit." As a word, it's short and to the point, without being too personal. It means all the definitions listed above, and much more.

To me, spirit is something difficult to define, but I think of spirit as the part inside of me that will never die.

I'm not talking about a soul. What I'm talking about is the part of me that never gives up or gives in, even if things look the worst and I don't have anything to believe in. Spirit is the part of me that creates art, makes leaps of intuition and logic, finds courage at the oddest times and in the strangest places. Spirit is the part of me that still believes in magic. It's the part of me that can never be defiled, nor stolen, nor destroyed. It's the part of me that refuses to die. I am Spirit.

Me.

Wearing my Earth 2 jacket. This
is a real jacket from the TV show.

I enjoy writing fan fiction (if you haven't guessed). I turn out the occasional poem, but not many. I enjoy science fiction in general, and I'm a big fan of Earth 2 and Doctor Who in particular.

I'm a big fan of Snoopy. :-) I adore the Peanuts comic strip. Charles Schulz had a wonderful sense of humor, and there's something so beautiful about the characters he drew and the rich colors he used. His drawings and characters are so full of life. I love the way his humor would start off in one direction and by the time you reach the last panel, it has veered off in another direction that no one could have seen coming.

I am the webmaster for three web sites. In addition to Spirit's Space, which is my personal site, I maintain the web site for my family, www.nemanfamily.com. It contains family tree information and photographs. I also maintain a master list of all Earth 2 fan fiction.

I'm a huge fan of women's tennis player Monica Seles. I'm also a fan of ladies' figure skating, especially Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes.

I enjoy working the Friday and Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle. I'm pretty good at getting most of each puzzle without reference works.

Almost every vacation I take is to a science fiction convention. I occasionally do things with DFW Fan Force, a local Star Wars group here in Dallas. Each February I attend the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One in Los Angeles, and I love going on Doctor Who cruises.

I used to write a lot of stories and poetry, but not any more. I don't have the time.

Besides Earth 2 and Doctor Who, other TV shows I like a lot are Blake's 7, Robotech, Star Blazers, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Voyagers, Red Dwarf, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Saturday Night Live, The Red Green Show, The Amazing Race, Ghost Hunters, and Jeopardy. A slightly more detailed description of my favorite shows is here.

My favorite movie of all time is Stand by Me. Directed by Rob Reiner and based on the novella "The Body" by Stephen King, it's a film about four twelve-year-old boys trying to grow up in a small town in 1950's America. It is so realistic, so on-target, it's astonishing.

My other favorite movies are The Lord of the Rings films, Glory, the Star Wars films, the Back to the Future trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Silverado, Ladyhawke, the Terminator movies and the Lethal Weapon series. I like comedies, such as films by the Monty Python alumni and Leslie Nielsen.

I also like good kung-fu movies, with martial arts people spinning so fast you can hardly see what they do. I'll go see a Jackie Chan or a Jet Li movie any day. I absolutely adore Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's so rare to see a film with tons of spectacular fight scenes, yet containing such subtle, beautiful depth for its story and characters (including strong women characters), and gorgeous cinematography to boot.

My favorite author is Ray Bradbury. I fell in love with The Martian Chronicles when I was a boy and never looked back. I also adore Something Wicked This Way Comes and Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury's writing influenced my own. (I have sections of prose in my stories that are attempting to be beautiful and lyrical. That comes from Mr. Bradbury.)

Another author who influenced me deeply as I was growing up is Alistair MacLean. He wrote a ton of action and espionage novels, many of which were made into films. He's most famous for The Guns of Navarone and Force 10 from Navarone. I loved the way he wrote action, and it influenced how I wrote action scenes when I first started writing. His greatest work is arguably HMS Ulysses, which is a shocking book about the horrors of war, before such works were popular.

I also like Richard Adams very much, having fallen in love with Watership Down. I like Douglas Adams's work, he's a very funny man. Alfred Bester wrote some of the best science fiction I've ever read, including the award-winning The Demolished Man, a very fine novel. Mr. Bester knew how to tell a tale without wasting space, and The Demolished Man pulled the rug out from under my feet in a spectacular fashion.

I absolutely adore The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and I am so jazzed about the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson!

I'm a child of the '80's, so I like some of the pop rock from that time, but I can really listen to anything except punk, grunge, metal or rap. I like songs that are fast with a good, fun rhythm, like Breathless by the Corrs (my favorite group!), I Want You by Savage Garden, Soak Up the Sun by Sheryl Crow, and Mony Mony by Billy Idol. I also like soft melodic songs, with nice piano playing or a Celtic feel. I can do without most of the hollow pop-radio love songs which are a dime a dozen. Some artists I like are Billy Joel, Elton John, Journey, Asia and Enya. I'm also a sucker for the music of the Olympics. It makes me feel all goose-bumpy.

But my favorite singer has got to be Loreena McKennitt. (She's what book stores call "New Age," but she sings predominantly Celtic music.) Quite simply, she has a way with words and music that transcends this Earth. Her music is so easy on the ear that I can listen to it subconsciously while doing anything else in the world and still enjoy it 100%. Hearing her music is as natural as breathing. I just can't do that with any other music. The last track on her album "The Book of Secrets" is a hauntingly beautiful tune called Dante's Prayer, and it is the most gorgeous song in the world. The lyrics are:

When the dark wood fell before me,
and all the paths were overgrown.
When the priests of pride say there is no other way,
I tilled the sorrows of stone.

I did not believe because I could not see,
though you came to me in the night.
When the dawn seemed forever lost,
you showed me your love in the light of the stars.

Cast your eyes on the ocean,
cast your soul to the sea.
When the dark night seems endless,
please remember me.

Then the mountain rose before me,
by the deep well of desire.
From the fountain of forgiveness,
beyond the ice and the fire.

Cast your eyes on the ocean,
cast your soul to the sea.
When the dark night seems endless,
please remember me.

Though we share this humble path, alone,
how fragile is the heart.
Oh, give these clay feet wings to fly,
to touch the face of the stars.

Breathe life into this feeble heart,
lift this mortal veil of fear.
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears,
and rise above these earthly cares.

Cast your eyes on the ocean,
cast your soul to the sea.
When the dark night seems endless,
please remember me.
Please remember me.