Five things
Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/ things I associate you with. Then post this in your lj and elaborate on the subjects given.
These subjects are courtesy of alagbon.
1. Poetry
Oh, wow.
Poetry has been a very big part of my identity for much of my life, but my output has dwindled drastically in the past few years, and I am having a really hard time coming to terms with this.
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. So I started writing lyrics. They were horrendously bad. But I was blessedly too young to realize this, so I kept making my imperfect creations and they slowly but steadily started to actually improve. By 13 or 14 I had given up on the "lyrics" thing and called my work what it really was: poetry.
Some years, in the 90s and early 00s, I wrote over a hundred poems a year. I think my best poems have come out of a college creative writing class, constant anxiety about death, and unrequited love for girls. I haven't experienced any of these things recently, which is probably part of the reason for my writers' block. I think if I didn't hold myself to an impossibly high standard, and let myself write complete crap from time-to-time, I'd be poetically productive again.
And... if I wasn't working all the time. You know.
2. Rats
I have been a rat owner off and on since I was 11 years old. No matter how many times I swear off them, I find that I can't resist their little faces and noses and paws and ears and whiskers, and so I become a rat owner again. I used to breed them. That was a big mistake. I was in college, living with my parents, and I had virtually no income. I'm happiest with a few rats that I can really get to know and spend time with.
I am a bit of a sexist when it comes to rats: I like the boys way better. They're calmer and bigger (the perfect size for cuddling). So the rats I have now are boys, two sets of brothers. Toby (aka "Potato Boy") and Wilson are black berkshire dumbos. They're about a year old. We've had some minor trials... Toby broke his leg and we thought it might have to be amputated, but he is super-resilient. He was also SUCH a good boy through all of the medical procedures he received. All of my vet's staff were smitten with him.
They're both cuddlers and Wilson is especially kissy. When we adopted them, they were terrified of people. The change in their personalities can be credited mostly to Rebecca, who has spent numerous hours cuddling with them in our room and letting them run around the bed. Though the fact that I am constantly spoiling them with "cookies" (yogurt treats) seems to have played a role as well. If I say, "Want a cookie?" they run to the front of their cage, bounce up and down and reach out with their paws. It is the cutest thing ever.
Oswald and Ernest are my new additions. They're both hairless and Ernest is a dumbo. They both have dark ruby eyes and Ernest has some beige fuzz on him. These boys are still young, I'm guessing five months or less, but it's obvious that they've been handled from birth. Oswald likes to, very gently, nibble fingers. He also seems quite accustomed to riding on shoulders, to the point where he expects a shoulder ride from everyone he meets. Ernest likes to be pet and he bruxes a lot. Both of them are very, very interested in peoples' mouths. I'm trying not to encourage that too much.
3. Beading
I can't help but feel this is a hobby I stole from my best friend, Catette, who has been making jewelry (a lot of which is beaded) for a living for the entirety of her adult life. I started making jewelry in a college metalsmithing class. A mutual friend introduced me to Catette based on our shared interest. She had me come over to help her make some little stuff (like stretch bracelets) for her shows and I got hooked. I also got MY MOM hooked.
We started buying beads everywhere we went. My first beaded pieces were a lot like my first poems: horrendous, but I didn't realize it.
Now, most of my beaded work consists of stretch bracelets, anklets and memory wire bracelets, because those are what sells. My mom and I sell to a store in Allentown, and sometimes to Catette when she needs extra inventory. It's more of a hobby than a passion. It keeps my hands busy, the artistic part of my brain stimulated (all the colors and shapes) and it accounts for a few extra bucks in my pocket.
4. Vegetarianism
I am actually a pescatarian (I eat fish), but people have no idea what that means, so saying "vegetarian" is easier.
This is a weird subject, because no matter how non-pushy you are in your vegetarianism, people tend to work under the assumption that you are exercising a "holier than thou" mentality. They feel a sudden need to explain or justify their consumption of meat, or they try to find inconsistencies and hypocrisies in your lifestyle.
No need. I really don't give a fuck what you eat. I'm serious. As long as you didn't brutally kill it with your own hands, because that would be rather creepy.
My own decision to go vegetarian at the age of 14 (I was lacto-ovo for a few years, but I started with the fish again when I started to lose my hair) came from a medley of disordered ideas. I felt conflicted about eating animals from very early in childhood (hell, I wouldn't even eat animal crackers!) But as a young teenager, I also felt very conflicted about my body and was constantly searching for ways to control it. I ended up with this twisted mentality of "Eating animals is wrong. Being fat is punishment for your greed." I thought going veggie would make me thin. After more than a decade I can say this isn't so.
At this age, I am just so used to not eating meat that I don't miss it. Also, I do have excellent cholesterol, and I'd like to maintain that.
5. Engrish
Despite time spent as an English major, I do LOVE butchering language. I also have been known to talk like an LOL cat.
These subjects are courtesy of alagbon.
1. Poetry
Oh, wow.
Poetry has been a very big part of my identity for much of my life, but my output has dwindled drastically in the past few years, and I am having a really hard time coming to terms with this.
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. So I started writing lyrics. They were horrendously bad. But I was blessedly too young to realize this, so I kept making my imperfect creations and they slowly but steadily started to actually improve. By 13 or 14 I had given up on the "lyrics" thing and called my work what it really was: poetry.
Some years, in the 90s and early 00s, I wrote over a hundred poems a year. I think my best poems have come out of a college creative writing class, constant anxiety about death, and unrequited love for girls. I haven't experienced any of these things recently, which is probably part of the reason for my writers' block. I think if I didn't hold myself to an impossibly high standard, and let myself write complete crap from time-to-time, I'd be poetically productive again.
And... if I wasn't working all the time. You know.
2. Rats
I have been a rat owner off and on since I was 11 years old. No matter how many times I swear off them, I find that I can't resist their little faces and noses and paws and ears and whiskers, and so I become a rat owner again. I used to breed them. That was a big mistake. I was in college, living with my parents, and I had virtually no income. I'm happiest with a few rats that I can really get to know and spend time with.
I am a bit of a sexist when it comes to rats: I like the boys way better. They're calmer and bigger (the perfect size for cuddling). So the rats I have now are boys, two sets of brothers. Toby (aka "Potato Boy") and Wilson are black berkshire dumbos. They're about a year old. We've had some minor trials... Toby broke his leg and we thought it might have to be amputated, but he is super-resilient. He was also SUCH a good boy through all of the medical procedures he received. All of my vet's staff were smitten with him.
They're both cuddlers and Wilson is especially kissy. When we adopted them, they were terrified of people. The change in their personalities can be credited mostly to Rebecca, who has spent numerous hours cuddling with them in our room and letting them run around the bed. Though the fact that I am constantly spoiling them with "cookies" (yogurt treats) seems to have played a role as well. If I say, "Want a cookie?" they run to the front of their cage, bounce up and down and reach out with their paws. It is the cutest thing ever.
Oswald and Ernest are my new additions. They're both hairless and Ernest is a dumbo. They both have dark ruby eyes and Ernest has some beige fuzz on him. These boys are still young, I'm guessing five months or less, but it's obvious that they've been handled from birth. Oswald likes to, very gently, nibble fingers. He also seems quite accustomed to riding on shoulders, to the point where he expects a shoulder ride from everyone he meets. Ernest likes to be pet and he bruxes a lot. Both of them are very, very interested in peoples' mouths. I'm trying not to encourage that too much.
3. Beading
I can't help but feel this is a hobby I stole from my best friend, Catette, who has been making jewelry (a lot of which is beaded) for a living for the entirety of her adult life. I started making jewelry in a college metalsmithing class. A mutual friend introduced me to Catette based on our shared interest. She had me come over to help her make some little stuff (like stretch bracelets) for her shows and I got hooked. I also got MY MOM hooked.
We started buying beads everywhere we went. My first beaded pieces were a lot like my first poems: horrendous, but I didn't realize it.
Now, most of my beaded work consists of stretch bracelets, anklets and memory wire bracelets, because those are what sells. My mom and I sell to a store in Allentown, and sometimes to Catette when she needs extra inventory. It's more of a hobby than a passion. It keeps my hands busy, the artistic part of my brain stimulated (all the colors and shapes) and it accounts for a few extra bucks in my pocket.
4. Vegetarianism
I am actually a pescatarian (I eat fish), but people have no idea what that means, so saying "vegetarian" is easier.
This is a weird subject, because no matter how non-pushy you are in your vegetarianism, people tend to work under the assumption that you are exercising a "holier than thou" mentality. They feel a sudden need to explain or justify their consumption of meat, or they try to find inconsistencies and hypocrisies in your lifestyle.
No need. I really don't give a fuck what you eat. I'm serious. As long as you didn't brutally kill it with your own hands, because that would be rather creepy.
My own decision to go vegetarian at the age of 14 (I was lacto-ovo for a few years, but I started with the fish again when I started to lose my hair) came from a medley of disordered ideas. I felt conflicted about eating animals from very early in childhood (hell, I wouldn't even eat animal crackers!) But as a young teenager, I also felt very conflicted about my body and was constantly searching for ways to control it. I ended up with this twisted mentality of "Eating animals is wrong. Being fat is punishment for your greed." I thought going veggie would make me thin. After more than a decade I can say this isn't so.
At this age, I am just so used to not eating meat that I don't miss it. Also, I do have excellent cholesterol, and I'd like to maintain that.
5. Engrish
Despite time spent as an English major, I do LOVE butchering language. I also have been known to talk like an LOL cat.