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exhilarationComment to this post, and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself. Got this from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yasonablack who gave me these topics:
Favorite artistic style
My favorite? Do you know what you're asking me here? Actually, are you fully aware WHO you're asking? (former art history major here, lol) I'll have to think about this one, I'll answer it in it's own post another time cause I can't spend too much time online today.
Most important lesson learned during childhood
"If you're going to exist outside of the box, don't expect company. If you want company, get back in the box" I was a weird kid. I really, really was. Part of this is that my parents are very unusual people themselves, and had a very unusual relationship and I was just raised differently - almost like someone who grew up on the other side of the world. Part of this is that I was really, really smart. I hesitate to say "too smart for my own good" but maybe I was, since it didn't actually do me much good now that I think about it. Kids are so wildly different, developmentally, from one year to another and I was just on an entirely different level from all the other kids, and I couldn't relate to anyone and it was LONELY. I couldn't relate to older kids either, because they had so much more life experience than I did, were interested in different things, etc, and I couldn't relate to adults because they just saw me as an abnormality, like, whoa, that kid sure is strange.
As a kid I learned to act differently around people I liked, so that I wouldn't have to be alone. I learned to make myself do things I didn't like to, or things that were very boring to me, or things I was very bad at (like SPORTS) because that's "what kids do" and I learned how to converse about things I didn't care about, like who Jonathan Taylor Thomas was and stuff like that, just so I could talk to SOMEONE. I learned that insisting on talking about things no one else cared about, knew about, or understood would NOT cause someone who DID want to talk about those things to appear out of the wood work - it just annoyed people.
It was a valuable lesson and it's served me quite well and I'm glad I learned it, because going back to school has put me in contact with people who clearly never did. Interacting with people is important in life, and going around acting like everyone I meet is beneath me is NOT a good way to start out.
First adult book/reading material you ever read (this doesn't have to be sexual, unless you want it to be, example, first book you read that you consider other than Young Adult, teen, children's, etc.)
The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. I read it on the bus on the way to and from a field trip to Gettysburg with my seventh grade class, and I borrowed it from a friend who was always reading these huge books and had quite a few with her. She told me it was really good - she did NOT tell me it was like nothing I'd ever find in the school library. It's a good book - its a very compelling story, and I've always loved speculative fiction. Even when I first read it I saw it as being sort of naive, but I recently re-read it and it does hold up. I just remember being shocked that homosexual relationships could actually be written about - reading and re-reading certain sentences thinking, oh my god, did someone actually write this down? It wasn't a sexy passage - it was just a description of a woman with a woman as a lover. I was floored. And it wasn't a book "about" being gay - it's more like a post-apocalyptic ecotopia or whatever - it's just that most of the characters just happened to have a somewhat fluid sexuality. This was in the 90s and I was raised in a conservative Christian household. It was a Big Deal.
Shoes, sneakers, heels, or colossal waste of time?
Oh man, you are going to ask me to talk about shoes? Haha. Ok. You asked for it. Sneakers I only wear at therapy. I've had the same pair of running shoes for like... wow. Maybe eight years now? I bought them one day because I thought they were cuter than the ones I previously had, and they're boy's shoes, because children's shoes are wider and cheaper than women's shoes. When I was a kid my mom would only allow me to wear sneakers, so the idea of "cute shoes" was like not even allowed in my house and I remember fighting and fighting to be allowed to wear boots instead and her saying that if I wore anything other than sneakers until I stopped growing that my feet would grow deformed. Yes really. Sneakers aren't exactly fashionable and I do love my fashion, and eventually I did win that fight and still to this day I only wear sneakers for exercise.
Heels I never wore - well, maybe a few times, but I never really figured out how to walk in them, it always felt really awkward to me and I kind of associated learning to walk in heels with growing up, like it would be something I would get the hang of over time. Possibly at the same time I would potentially learn to deal with my out of control hair. That's part of growing up too, right? I have some heels now - I bought a pair of black mary janes when I started using a wheelchair again cause I wanted shoes that showed my striped socks and figured, well, they can have a low heel, cause it's not like I have to try to walk in them, right? I also have a pair of green and gold heels that are VERY cute, but again, it's a pretty low heel. My boyfriend bought me a pair of black suede and patent leather heels and they're like... four inches high and I think they look ridiculous. I only wear them in bed :)
I have several pairs of boots that I usually wear now. I think I just prefer the look of flat boots, cause that's sort of what I've always gravitated towards, and I recently seem to have caught the shopping disease (like in the last few years) so now I have a few different pairs in different styles, I have grey suede ones and brown lace-up ones and black knee high ones, so, yeah. I'm a boots girl.
Footwear is definitely NOT a colossal waste of time, lol. I love fashion, and my appearance is important to me. First impressions count, and I want to make one that says the most about me. So my shoes are just as important as everything else that's visible.
The childhood stuffed animal/blanket/toy that you still own
I don't have anything I owned as a child. I have some stuffed animals that people have given me - my friend Daniel gave me a stuffed Lilo and Stitch and they sit on a shelf above my bed (not in my bed) with the baby Simba I bought in Disney World, and I'm pretty attached to them. Also as I child I had a very soft crocheted baby blanket that my mom's aunt made for me, and I was very attached to it. I didn't take it with me everywhere I went, but I always had it in my bed with me. I don't have it now, but I do have a "grown-up" blanket that I treat pretty much exactly the same. It's a chenille throw blanket with tassels on the ends and it is very lush and soft and I always want it in bed with me, or on the couch with me, cause I just like to touch it or rub my face in it. It's a comfort thing. I know it's not the same blanket I had as a kid, but it's the same idea.
Favorite and most-hated author
I think my favorite author is Arthur C. Clarke. I read so many of his books growing up and I loved every one of them. I found them absolutely fascinating. BAD sic-fi is a dime a dozen, GOOD sci-fi is not as easy to come by as I originally thought. I mean, my dad had shelves and shelves of it in our basement, and when I read all those, I tried the bookstore, except for most of THOSE books turned out to suck!
Most hated? Who's that chick that wrote "Twilight," Stephanie Meyer? First of all, MY vampires are all perverted and dark, ala Anne Rice. I was VERY, VERY into the world she created with HER vampire sagas (um, before she hardcore banned all fan fictions of her work...) and Twilight's vampires are just a mockery to me. Second of all, the message those books send to young teenagers is DISGUSTING and makes me want to puke. Third of all, I've read parts of the books (because my sister mentioned reading them and loving them) and the woman can't write for shit. I don't hate her as an author because her writing sucks, though. I hate her as an author because her HORRIBLE writing and DISGUSTING views have become so popular, and I personally hold her responsible for the downfall of todays youth.
Television
I went several years without watching television and never missed it. The shows I was really into I still kept up with on Hulu or netflix or downloads or whatever, but as I began to lose interest in them I didn't have any new shows to replace them with and that was kind of that. Now I have a TV, but it's mostly on during sports games, because my boyfriend is a huge sports person. He knows TV annoys me, and my room mate doesn't really watch it either, so usually our TV is not even on unless it's a movie or something. So, yeah, nowadays I find television extremely annoying and it barely holds my attention, I find commercials distracting and reality shows, well, actually I find them interesting for like one or two episodes but they get old really quick. This of course puts me totally out of touch with everything because especially at school people talk and talk and talk about everything on TV, the commercials, Jersey Shore, whatever, and I'm just like, ummmm... huh? When I worked in a restaurant this wasn't an issue at all - I guess college students have a lot of free time to spend in front of the TV and people who work long and odd hours don't?
Also, I posted this in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dot_gimp_snark but it's friends-locked, so I'm reproducing it here. Someone started this modeling off of "Shit White People Say" and changed it to "Shit Able-Bodied People Say" and this is my contribution. I'm not going to add a "yes, really" after every single one of these - just know that YES, REALLY, this IS shit people say to me.
1. You are too pretty to be in that chair
2. You're too young to have had so many surgeries
3. You're too young to be on so much medication - you don't want to become addicted!
4. I understand. I once hurt my foot and had to use crutches for two months, it was terrible, I don't know how you ever survive!
5. I'd kill myself if that ever happened to me
6. I would never let myself use one of those things ( insert mobility aide here)
7. But why are you going to school if you have so many health problems? Isn't it a waste of money since you'll never be able to work?
8. Slow down, or I'll have to give you a speeding ticket!
9. Does she talk?
10. Thats so sweet that you have a boyfriend, is he disabled too?
11. Wow, you've really got it made! I'd love to sit down all day!
12. Uh oh, here comes trouble!
13. What about Tylenol? Thats what I always take for everything!
14. If everyone could please stand up - haha, everyone but Lara! I'm so funny!
15. Are you here by yourself? Why don't you have someone helping you?
16. If you have so many problems why don't you live with your family?
17. You know what? I think you like having things wrong with you - it makes you feel special
18. Well you're lucky, you're disabled so you get free insurance, the rest of us have to pay
19. You got a license for that thing?
20. It's okay - I work with special need children, I know how it is
I imagine that everyone who has ANY characteristic whatsoever that's out of the norm must have an equally long list of things they hear so often they also become "shit." My Public Service Announcement for today is this: if you've got a really clever comment for someone, I guarantee you, you are NOT the first person to think of it and it's NOT actually that clever so FORGET IT and stick to things like, "hello, how are you today?"
The End.
PS, thanks to anyone who commented on my last entry. I read them all, and I'm sorry for not replying. It's a difficult thing for me to talk about.
yasonablack who gave me these topics:Favorite artistic style
My favorite? Do you know what you're asking me here? Actually, are you fully aware WHO you're asking? (former art history major here, lol) I'll have to think about this one, I'll answer it in it's own post another time cause I can't spend too much time online today.
Most important lesson learned during childhood
"If you're going to exist outside of the box, don't expect company. If you want company, get back in the box" I was a weird kid. I really, really was. Part of this is that my parents are very unusual people themselves, and had a very unusual relationship and I was just raised differently - almost like someone who grew up on the other side of the world. Part of this is that I was really, really smart. I hesitate to say "too smart for my own good" but maybe I was, since it didn't actually do me much good now that I think about it. Kids are so wildly different, developmentally, from one year to another and I was just on an entirely different level from all the other kids, and I couldn't relate to anyone and it was LONELY. I couldn't relate to older kids either, because they had so much more life experience than I did, were interested in different things, etc, and I couldn't relate to adults because they just saw me as an abnormality, like, whoa, that kid sure is strange.
As a kid I learned to act differently around people I liked, so that I wouldn't have to be alone. I learned to make myself do things I didn't like to, or things that were very boring to me, or things I was very bad at (like SPORTS) because that's "what kids do" and I learned how to converse about things I didn't care about, like who Jonathan Taylor Thomas was and stuff like that, just so I could talk to SOMEONE. I learned that insisting on talking about things no one else cared about, knew about, or understood would NOT cause someone who DID want to talk about those things to appear out of the wood work - it just annoyed people.
It was a valuable lesson and it's served me quite well and I'm glad I learned it, because going back to school has put me in contact with people who clearly never did. Interacting with people is important in life, and going around acting like everyone I meet is beneath me is NOT a good way to start out.
First adult book/reading material you ever read (this doesn't have to be sexual, unless you want it to be, example, first book you read that you consider other than Young Adult, teen, children's, etc.)
The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. I read it on the bus on the way to and from a field trip to Gettysburg with my seventh grade class, and I borrowed it from a friend who was always reading these huge books and had quite a few with her. She told me it was really good - she did NOT tell me it was like nothing I'd ever find in the school library. It's a good book - its a very compelling story, and I've always loved speculative fiction. Even when I first read it I saw it as being sort of naive, but I recently re-read it and it does hold up. I just remember being shocked that homosexual relationships could actually be written about - reading and re-reading certain sentences thinking, oh my god, did someone actually write this down? It wasn't a sexy passage - it was just a description of a woman with a woman as a lover. I was floored. And it wasn't a book "about" being gay - it's more like a post-apocalyptic ecotopia or whatever - it's just that most of the characters just happened to have a somewhat fluid sexuality. This was in the 90s and I was raised in a conservative Christian household. It was a Big Deal.
Shoes, sneakers, heels, or colossal waste of time?
Oh man, you are going to ask me to talk about shoes? Haha. Ok. You asked for it. Sneakers I only wear at therapy. I've had the same pair of running shoes for like... wow. Maybe eight years now? I bought them one day because I thought they were cuter than the ones I previously had, and they're boy's shoes, because children's shoes are wider and cheaper than women's shoes. When I was a kid my mom would only allow me to wear sneakers, so the idea of "cute shoes" was like not even allowed in my house and I remember fighting and fighting to be allowed to wear boots instead and her saying that if I wore anything other than sneakers until I stopped growing that my feet would grow deformed. Yes really. Sneakers aren't exactly fashionable and I do love my fashion, and eventually I did win that fight and still to this day I only wear sneakers for exercise.
Heels I never wore - well, maybe a few times, but I never really figured out how to walk in them, it always felt really awkward to me and I kind of associated learning to walk in heels with growing up, like it would be something I would get the hang of over time. Possibly at the same time I would potentially learn to deal with my out of control hair. That's part of growing up too, right? I have some heels now - I bought a pair of black mary janes when I started using a wheelchair again cause I wanted shoes that showed my striped socks and figured, well, they can have a low heel, cause it's not like I have to try to walk in them, right? I also have a pair of green and gold heels that are VERY cute, but again, it's a pretty low heel. My boyfriend bought me a pair of black suede and patent leather heels and they're like... four inches high and I think they look ridiculous. I only wear them in bed :)
I have several pairs of boots that I usually wear now. I think I just prefer the look of flat boots, cause that's sort of what I've always gravitated towards, and I recently seem to have caught the shopping disease (like in the last few years) so now I have a few different pairs in different styles, I have grey suede ones and brown lace-up ones and black knee high ones, so, yeah. I'm a boots girl.
Footwear is definitely NOT a colossal waste of time, lol. I love fashion, and my appearance is important to me. First impressions count, and I want to make one that says the most about me. So my shoes are just as important as everything else that's visible.
The childhood stuffed animal/blanket/toy that you still own
I don't have anything I owned as a child. I have some stuffed animals that people have given me - my friend Daniel gave me a stuffed Lilo and Stitch and they sit on a shelf above my bed (not in my bed) with the baby Simba I bought in Disney World, and I'm pretty attached to them. Also as I child I had a very soft crocheted baby blanket that my mom's aunt made for me, and I was very attached to it. I didn't take it with me everywhere I went, but I always had it in my bed with me. I don't have it now, but I do have a "grown-up" blanket that I treat pretty much exactly the same. It's a chenille throw blanket with tassels on the ends and it is very lush and soft and I always want it in bed with me, or on the couch with me, cause I just like to touch it or rub my face in it. It's a comfort thing. I know it's not the same blanket I had as a kid, but it's the same idea.
Favorite and most-hated author
I think my favorite author is Arthur C. Clarke. I read so many of his books growing up and I loved every one of them. I found them absolutely fascinating. BAD sic-fi is a dime a dozen, GOOD sci-fi is not as easy to come by as I originally thought. I mean, my dad had shelves and shelves of it in our basement, and when I read all those, I tried the bookstore, except for most of THOSE books turned out to suck!
Most hated? Who's that chick that wrote "Twilight," Stephanie Meyer? First of all, MY vampires are all perverted and dark, ala Anne Rice. I was VERY, VERY into the world she created with HER vampire sagas (um, before she hardcore banned all fan fictions of her work...) and Twilight's vampires are just a mockery to me. Second of all, the message those books send to young teenagers is DISGUSTING and makes me want to puke. Third of all, I've read parts of the books (because my sister mentioned reading them and loving them) and the woman can't write for shit. I don't hate her as an author because her writing sucks, though. I hate her as an author because her HORRIBLE writing and DISGUSTING views have become so popular, and I personally hold her responsible for the downfall of todays youth.
Television
I went several years without watching television and never missed it. The shows I was really into I still kept up with on Hulu or netflix or downloads or whatever, but as I began to lose interest in them I didn't have any new shows to replace them with and that was kind of that. Now I have a TV, but it's mostly on during sports games, because my boyfriend is a huge sports person. He knows TV annoys me, and my room mate doesn't really watch it either, so usually our TV is not even on unless it's a movie or something. So, yeah, nowadays I find television extremely annoying and it barely holds my attention, I find commercials distracting and reality shows, well, actually I find them interesting for like one or two episodes but they get old really quick. This of course puts me totally out of touch with everything because especially at school people talk and talk and talk about everything on TV, the commercials, Jersey Shore, whatever, and I'm just like, ummmm... huh? When I worked in a restaurant this wasn't an issue at all - I guess college students have a lot of free time to spend in front of the TV and people who work long and odd hours don't?
Also, I posted this in
dot_gimp_snark but it's friends-locked, so I'm reproducing it here. Someone started this modeling off of "Shit White People Say" and changed it to "Shit Able-Bodied People Say" and this is my contribution. I'm not going to add a "yes, really" after every single one of these - just know that YES, REALLY, this IS shit people say to me.1. You are too pretty to be in that chair
2. You're too young to have had so many surgeries
3. You're too young to be on so much medication - you don't want to become addicted!
4. I understand. I once hurt my foot and had to use crutches for two months, it was terrible, I don't know how you ever survive!
5. I'd kill myself if that ever happened to me
6. I would never let myself use one of those things ( insert mobility aide here)
7. But why are you going to school if you have so many health problems? Isn't it a waste of money since you'll never be able to work?
8. Slow down, or I'll have to give you a speeding ticket!
9. Does she talk?
10. Thats so sweet that you have a boyfriend, is he disabled too?
11. Wow, you've really got it made! I'd love to sit down all day!
12. Uh oh, here comes trouble!
13. What about Tylenol? Thats what I always take for everything!
14. If everyone could please stand up - haha, everyone but Lara! I'm so funny!
15. Are you here by yourself? Why don't you have someone helping you?
16. If you have so many problems why don't you live with your family?
17. You know what? I think you like having things wrong with you - it makes you feel special
18. Well you're lucky, you're disabled so you get free insurance, the rest of us have to pay
19. You got a license for that thing?
20. It's okay - I work with special need children, I know how it is
I imagine that everyone who has ANY characteristic whatsoever that's out of the norm must have an equally long list of things they hear so often they also become "shit." My Public Service Announcement for today is this: if you've got a really clever comment for someone, I guarantee you, you are NOT the first person to think of it and it's NOT actually that clever so FORGET IT and stick to things like, "hello, how are you today?"
The End.
PS, thanks to anyone who commented on my last entry. I read them all, and I'm sorry for not replying. It's a difficult thing for me to talk about.
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-29 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-30 12:42 am (UTC)you want seven topics? :)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-30 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-31 04:56 pm (UTC)2. awkward moments
3. theatre stereotypes
4. sports rivalries
5. one talent you have
6. show you'd love to be in/part you'd love to play
7. favorite show you've ACTUALLY been in
no subject
Date: 2012-01-29 02:15 am (UTC)Does it make me a jerk that I'm a little glad this has happened to someone else? I guess I don't know many other gimps.
And sure, what the hell, pick 7 things for me to talk about...assuming I ever get around to it :-p
no subject
Date: 2012-01-30 12:53 am (UTC)2. being an American in France
3. talking to strangers
4. things that make you calm
5. your favorite outfit
6. a book
7. most pointless class in college
no subject
Date: 2012-01-29 03:19 am (UTC)Secondly, I recently saw something like this but I just assumed it was someone going off of the "sh*t my dad says" TV show with William Shatner (although given the response to TV above I'm not surprised if you haven't heard of the show). I'm going to have to look up this "Shit white people say" thing. So anyway, in my defense, I think the most likely comment I'd make as an AB guy to a girl in a wheelchair would be "Hey you're cute" :) Either that or I'd just clam up with nervousness, I get that way around attractive people. (excluding my GF of course, she get's "Hi Becky" when I see her)
Also just a night or so ago I ran across this. Thought it was rather apt.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-29 05:12 am (UTC)2. something you regret
3. someone you'd like to trade places with for one day
4. something you wish everyone knew
5. a bad memory
6. a good memory
7. your oldest memory
sober questions
Date: 2012-01-30 02:38 am (UTC)1. favorites. not your favorite things, the concept of favorites
2. clever vs. lucky
3. what you wanted to be when you grew up
4. racing
5. Big Bang Theory
6. good things about long distance relationships
7. something you wish everyone knew (you're not getting out of this one)
Re: sober questions
Date: 2012-01-30 06:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-29 03:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-30 02:29 am (UTC)I can give you seven topics if you want, and we can kick off a never ending cycle with this meme?
no subject
Date: 2012-01-30 02:38 am (UTC)Never ending meme? Why not?! :)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-31 05:03 pm (UTC)2. one thing you don't
3. earth-based religions
4. when it is ok to mix a pattern with a different pattern
5. something you've deliberately changed about yourself
6. glasses or contacts or both
7. song you've heard too much of recently