Like Wash, I am a leaf on the wind
Obligatory Questions
01. Name: Emily (Amelie, Em, or Frankie)
02. Age: 19
03. Gender: Female
04. Location: Suburbs of San Francisco/Portland Oregon (I go to school in Portland and am there most of the year.)
05. Likes: Tea, food meant to be eaten with chopsticks, reading, dogs, cats, singing, history, languages, movie marathons, things with argyle patterns, snow, lists, Irish accents, old maps, rum and coke, sleeping in, musicals, how my girlfriend smells.
06. Dislikes: Homophobia, racism, most other isms, birds, general stupidity, poor grammar (when the speaker is using their native language), blind patriotism, small children, mayonaise, heat/humidity.
07. Hobbies and/or Talents: Map reading, languages (Spanish and German, the German is fluent, the Spanish is pathetic), singing (alto), reading (novels, non-fiction, poetry, "kids" lit).
08. Strengths: I'm loyal and follow directions promptly and thoroughly, as long as I respect the individual giving them, I know a little bit about a lot of things and am always willing to learn more, I'm empathetic and have been told I'm a good listener, I'm generally flexible and not demanding, also I'm very good with reading maps and intuitively knowing where I am or finding my way. I never get lost.
09. Weaknesses: I can be spiteful and stubborn, I hate being wrong, if given the chance I plan everything in excruciating detail and severely dislike diverging from what I've planned (I'll do it, I just won't be happy about it, and I'll keep it to myself), I'm secretly very pretentious, I over-react occasionally, I really can get pretty neurotic, and I have a relatively short fuse. 99% of the time I keep my discomfort to myself, but it's there.
Favourite
01. Colour: Brown and dark, earthy greens.
02. Movies: An American in Paris, Amelie, Little Miss Sunshine, the Breakfast Club, the Princess Bride, Dead Poets Society, Harold & Maude, Gegen die Wand (I don't know what it's called in English...it might be Against the Wall?), Everything is Illuminated.
03. Books: 1984, The Things They Carried, Walking With the Wind, The Kite Runner, The Little Prince, The Golden Compass etc., Harry Potter, Sophie's World, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Good Omens, and poetry (especially Yeats, Rilke, Auden and Neruda).
04. Music: I like pretty much everything...I'm very fond of folk...Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. The Beatles, Iron and Wine, Rufus Wainwright, Wir Sind Helden, Imogen Heap, and Beirut are at the top of my list these days. I also have a soft spot for musicals (RENT, Les Miserables, Wicked, Chicago, and Cabaret are my favourites. ESPECIALLY Cabaret.)
This or That
01. Leader or follower? I'm a follower. I don't have the charisma or calm to be a leader. I'd much rather follow orders and offer council.
02. Brains or brawn? Brain. I'm the first in my family to go college and I'm 5'1" and weak as hell. My brain is all I have!
03. Fight or run? That depends on what I'm fighting for. Friends/family, the right ideals/causes...those I'll fight for. Generally I am non-violent, though.
04. Psychological warfare, or a good ol' fashioned ass-kickin'? Again, depends on the situation. Psychological warfare is oftentimes more effective, but more time consuming. Not to mention crueler.
05. Dreamer or realist? I'm a bit of both. I'm more realistic, but I haven't entirely given up on dreams just yet. (Can you tell I see the world in shades of gray yet?)
06. Win at all costs, or honour until the end? Honour. If you have honour, then you have won, regardless of the physical outcome.
07. Paper or plastic? Paper. That can be recycled!
Random
01. How to do react to stressful situations? Quite often I thrive in them. I need that pressing sense of urgency to do my best work. Especially at school...to the outside observer, I look like a total mess, but that's when I'm on top of my game. I like to get things done well, quickly, efficiently, and with minimal damage.
02. Who is your least favourite person in the universe, fictional or not? OH MAN WHAT A QUESTION. I think I'll settle on Dolores Umbridge, of the Harry Potter books. She represents almost everything I hate in an authority figure (and poor authority figures often lead to poor followers/populations): she uses her power for evil and personal gain, she thinks the only people worth anything are those exactly like her, she's cruel, she doesn't teach but uses her position to brainwash and harm, she's irrational and hateful, she's a propagandist, and she gets away with it for so long. She's a great character, but a despicable person.
03. The eternal question. You find a wallet full of money, credit cards, etc. What do you do with it? Try and find identification, or any kind of clue as to who the owner is and return it. With credit cards, there'd probably be a name. If not, I'd donate the money. I'd feel too guilty spending it on myself. I have a job, I don't need to take someone else's money.
04. How well do you take and insult? POORLY. I'm pretty hypersensitive. I don't know if it's an onlychild quirk, or my own neurosis, but I want everyone to like me, all the time. If it's well phrased and gentle (schoolwork, usually), I take correction in stride and work to improve, but not all people do that. I get very embarrassed when criticised by friends, more than anyone else.
05. Pick a weapon. The pen, or the spoken word. "You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea." -Medgar Evers (look him up. He was a civil rights worker killed in Mississippi in 1963). Or, if that doesn't work, crossbows are pretty badass. So are cannons.
06. You're sending a capsule into space, to educate any alien races who might find it on human culture. Remember, you have to impress them, or else they'll think we're stupid and blow us up. What do you put in the capsule? Pieces of literature from several nations, mythology, poetry, novels. Music (classical, punk rock, folk, vaudeville, cultural pieces from around the globe/globes). Photographs of average citizens. A (well written) history book. Biographies on people like Dr. King, Gandhi, FDR, Anne Frank. Some Earl Gray tea. Tea solves everything.