National Day of Listening

[anomilygrace]

So according to thebratqueen , today is the First Annual Day of Listening.  And, you know, I like to listen, and I love to read stuff about you guys so I want to continue the listening and "listen" to you!

Below are some questions that I'd love to hear the answers to - either in the comments or in your own posts - , and I will be adding a post (probably

Comments

[equustel]

* When and where were you born? 1986, in Southern California. Where, wonder of wonders, I'm still living!
* Where did you grow up? Southern California.
* What was it like? Strange. I didn't realize when I was little what a "big deal" SoCal was, or how desirable our little foothill community was to live in. My parents had bought our house in the '70s, before the elitists moved in. They're still terribly out-of-place.
* What were your parents like? My mom is the single sweetest person in the universe, and my dad is the picture of practical wisdom.
* How was your relationship with your parents? Good, and still is. I love them both to pieces, and they've been incredible role models for me.
* Did you get into trouble? What was the worst thing you did? But of course, especially growing up with two older brothers. The worst thing I did was probably break one of their toes by chasing them around the house - oops.
* Do you have any siblings? What were they like growing up? Yep, two brothers, both older. Chris is the comedian of the family, and Mike is the tortured artiste.
* What did you look like? HA. I was as tomboy as they come. I wore baggy jeans and guys' band shirts. I was rebelling against the big bows and fluffy dresses my mom used to send me out in.
* How would you describe yourself as a child? Were you happy? Yes, as much as any kid can be going through all their awkward stages. High school was probably the most dramatic, and a place where I had a lot of nasty moments of low self-esteem, but college was a transformative process - almost worth every penny of the ridiculous tuition for what it did to me socially, emotionally, etc. Almost.
* What is your best memory of childhood? Worst? Best: Christmases in Carmel-by-the-Sea visiting my grandparents. Worst: my beloved dog Bear passing away in our backyard when I came back from school one day.
* Did you have a nickname? How’d you get it? Ali: rather simple. My parents, of course, were the first to use it. Actually, their spelling was "Allie" from "Allison", but when I first got the internet I was uncomfortable using anything too close to my real name, so I though kicking out some letters was oh-so-slick and somehow... less uncomfortable? I was a funny one. But it stuck.
* Who were your best friends? What were they like? Heh. Well. Unfortunately, I was kind of a pushover in my middle- and high-school years, which led to a lot of the aforementioned drama. I'd make what I thought was a really great friend, they'd eventually realize I was a yes-woman, use and abuse me, then I'd get fed up and leave them and move on. This happened no less than three times (gotta love girls that age) until I got to high school and met people not interested in girl-games. Naturally, I'm still in touch with them.
* How would you describe a perfect day when you were young? If I was going for small-scale: Probably one that included my mom's stroganoff, Early Edition, and a successful chapter of the incredibly lame horse story I was writing. Large-scale: DISNEYLAND.
* What did you think your life would be like when you were older? It was always very hard to picture. I always wanted to be a writer, of course. It's still a distant dream. I wanted a private beach house, a Corvette, and all the time in the world to myself. Beyond that, I wasn't sure (and I certainly wasn't sure how to get to that point).
* Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood? Perhaps the time when I got caught in a RAGING OCEAN RIPTIDE, slammed underwater, my life flashing before my eyes when BOOM! - my brother Chris just grabs me bodily and hauls me to safety. It felt like a movie, with the eye-cam showing me half underwater and half above, chaos and little people on the shore shouting things. Ah, near-death experiences.