Two memes, both stolen from batchix
This first one I cut and pasted because I hate having to join up at a million different quiz websites just so I can embed my results. Lame. Anyway, it was a "Which mad-men era woman are you?" I got Ingrid Bergman, and it's eerily accurate (or it's surprising how easily people can be categorized with only three questions.)
Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.
How to Get Along with Me
* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!
What I Like About Being an Ingrid
* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me
What's Hard About Being an Ingrid
* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have
Ingrids as Children Often
* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)
1998 vs. 2008
1) How old were you?
Then: 13
Now: 23
2) What was your internet presence?
Then: For a while we had an email-only dial-up internet connection that was free and very slow. I think we finally got AOL when I was in 8th grade, but at that time computers were practically obsolete as soon as they left the box, and ours was three years old. Dial-up + old computer = very slow internet, especially since I was into saving/printing big anime images. I'm not sure if I'd fully discovered AIM at that point...most of my time online was spent browsing anime fansites.
Now: I've cut back on my internet usage a lot compared to my late high school/early college days. I really only get online to check LJ/Facebook/email.
3) Where did you work?
Then: I wasn't old enough to have a job.
Now: at O-Cha Tea Bar <3
4) Where did you live?
Then: At home with my parents.
Now:...At home with my parents, temporarily. Making plans to move back out on my own as soon as it's feasible.
5) Who did you live with?
Then: Mom, Dad, Ebbie, Harlee (cat siblings)
Now: Mom, Dad, Ebbie, Kodee, Shade, Saffron, and Myrrhmur (exponential cats!)
6) How was your health?
Then: Despite being tiny, I was always robust. I rarely got sick, never had any major surgeries, etc. It was still too early for teen angst.
Now: Thankfully I grew to be a little bit taller than my mom. I still don't get sick often, still never been in the hospital. I wouldn't say I'm clinically depressed, but I do have my breakdowns from time to time.
7) Pets?
Then: Ebbie is a big, shaggy black/white cat with yellow eyes. She used to spend the majority of her time outside, but since she injured one of her back legs, she now spends her time in my parents' bedroom and bathroom. She hates the other cats, especially Shade. Dad is her person and she doesn't really care about anyone else, unless you have food.
Harlee was a big fluffy brown tabby who was shy, but loved everybody. She was a great watchcat; she would run to the window and growl whenever someone drove up or walked up to our house. She would drool heavily if you pet her long enough. Sadly, dad found her dead in the backyard one day, around the same time my great-grandmother died. We think she was killed by a big possum that was hanging around. Maybe she keeps my great-grandmother company :)
Now: Ebbie's still here and will probably live to be a hundred or something crazy. Then there's Kodee the sweetheart, Shade the bully simpleton, plus my two cats, Saffron and Myrrhmur, who will journey with me when I move again.
8) Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse/S.O.?
Then: I was way too young to have a boyfriend and never went through the "boy crazy" phase that so many teenagers do. While I had my fair share of puppy crushes, boys were completely uninterested in me, so the feeling was largely mutual.
Now: I'm in love with Mr. Raun Meyn and trying to wrap my brain around our long-distance relationship. We've been together for over two years now.
9) Who were your friends?
Then: 8th grade was a lackluster year for me socially. I had one best friend, Elizabeth, who I met in my afterschool Fine Arts Center class. She introduced me to anime and we were weirdos together. Bailey (my cousin) and I started to get a lot closer than we had been. Most of the friends I'd made at my middle school either changed social groups or decided they didn't like me anymore. I wanted to be better friends with this girl Jane, who was artsy and worldly beyond our years, but I wasn't cool enough for her.
Now: The usual suspects - Raun, James, Abby, Daniel, Ashley, JP, Crystal :)
10) Any kids? Any plans for kids?
Then: I wasn't old enough to be thinking of having kids except in a very abstract way. My "I HATE CHILDREN WITH A DEADLY PASSION" phase was on the horizon.
Now: I'm much more open to having kids than I was a few years ago...sometimes I even have "mommy longings"...usually after watching a baby show on TV, haha. I'm in absolutely NO hurry to have kids, though...and still very apprehensive about having more than one.
11) What was your worst struggle?
Then: Probably being lonely and out of place at school. I always felt like I was on the outskirts of several social groups instead of fitting into one.
Now: Trying to find something art related that holds my interest for more than a few days.
12) What was your biggest joy?
Then: Definitely going to the Fine Arts Center. And anything anime related.
Now: Huh. You know, that's a good question. Right this moment, I'd say Raun's impending visit next week will bring me tons of joy indeed. Otherwise...being alive? I've been kind of "ho-hum" lately. This needs to be remedied.
13) What did you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Then: I made it through another year of school, violin, dance, and visual arts without having a seizure.
Now: I'm a college grad. I'm paying my bills. I'm in an awesome relationship. Hopefully I'm on the cusp of actually starting my independent adult life.
14) What advice would you give your younger self?
"Keep playing the violin, dumbass. Quit dancing or find a better studio, because it's only going to go downhill from here. Go to the Fine Arts Center 9th grade year. Don't take 3-D metalworking for the second time senior year, take ceramics again instead!!!! And research more colleges!"
15) What would your younger self say to you?
"Wow, you're 23 and this is what you do? I'm not going to art school."
16) Looking back, is your life in 2008 what you thought it would be in 1998?
Hard to say. I really didn't know "what I wanted to be" when I was a kid. I knew I eventually wanted to be my own boss. At something. I wanted to be respected for my skills, whatever they turned out to be. I guess I was starting to hope I might be a comics artist. Close, but no cigar.
I honestly don't remember thinking much about the future when I was that age. I was so wrapped up in school and all my activities. I think my life is on the right track, even if it takes some dodgy backroads from time to time.
Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.
How to Get Along with Me
* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!
What I Like About Being an Ingrid
* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me
What's Hard About Being an Ingrid
* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have
Ingrids as Children Often
* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)
1998 vs. 2008
1) How old were you?
Then: 13
Now: 23
2) What was your internet presence?
Then: For a while we had an email-only dial-up internet connection that was free and very slow. I think we finally got AOL when I was in 8th grade, but at that time computers were practically obsolete as soon as they left the box, and ours was three years old. Dial-up + old computer = very slow internet, especially since I was into saving/printing big anime images. I'm not sure if I'd fully discovered AIM at that point...most of my time online was spent browsing anime fansites.
Now: I've cut back on my internet usage a lot compared to my late high school/early college days. I really only get online to check LJ/Facebook/email.
3) Where did you work?
Then: I wasn't old enough to have a job.
Now: at O-Cha Tea Bar <3
4) Where did you live?
Then: At home with my parents.
Now:...At home with my parents, temporarily. Making plans to move back out on my own as soon as it's feasible.
5) Who did you live with?
Then: Mom, Dad, Ebbie, Harlee (cat siblings)
Now: Mom, Dad, Ebbie, Kodee, Shade, Saffron, and Myrrhmur (exponential cats!)
6) How was your health?
Then: Despite being tiny, I was always robust. I rarely got sick, never had any major surgeries, etc. It was still too early for teen angst.
Now: Thankfully I grew to be a little bit taller than my mom. I still don't get sick often, still never been in the hospital. I wouldn't say I'm clinically depressed, but I do have my breakdowns from time to time.
7) Pets?
Then: Ebbie is a big, shaggy black/white cat with yellow eyes. She used to spend the majority of her time outside, but since she injured one of her back legs, she now spends her time in my parents' bedroom and bathroom. She hates the other cats, especially Shade. Dad is her person and she doesn't really care about anyone else, unless you have food.
Harlee was a big fluffy brown tabby who was shy, but loved everybody. She was a great watchcat; she would run to the window and growl whenever someone drove up or walked up to our house. She would drool heavily if you pet her long enough. Sadly, dad found her dead in the backyard one day, around the same time my great-grandmother died. We think she was killed by a big possum that was hanging around. Maybe she keeps my great-grandmother company :)
Now: Ebbie's still here and will probably live to be a hundred or something crazy. Then there's Kodee the sweetheart, Shade the bully simpleton, plus my two cats, Saffron and Myrrhmur, who will journey with me when I move again.
8) Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse/S.O.?
Then: I was way too young to have a boyfriend and never went through the "boy crazy" phase that so many teenagers do. While I had my fair share of puppy crushes, boys were completely uninterested in me, so the feeling was largely mutual.
Now: I'm in love with Mr. Raun Meyn and trying to wrap my brain around our long-distance relationship. We've been together for over two years now.
9) Who were your friends?
Then: 8th grade was a lackluster year for me socially. I had one best friend, Elizabeth, who I met in my afterschool Fine Arts Center class. She introduced me to anime and we were weirdos together. Bailey (my cousin) and I started to get a lot closer than we had been. Most of the friends I'd made at my middle school either changed social groups or decided they didn't like me anymore. I wanted to be better friends with this girl Jane, who was artsy and worldly beyond our years, but I wasn't cool enough for her.
Now: The usual suspects - Raun, James, Abby, Daniel, Ashley, JP, Crystal :)
10) Any kids? Any plans for kids?
Then: I wasn't old enough to be thinking of having kids except in a very abstract way. My "I HATE CHILDREN WITH A DEADLY PASSION" phase was on the horizon.
Now: I'm much more open to having kids than I was a few years ago...sometimes I even have "mommy longings"...usually after watching a baby show on TV, haha. I'm in absolutely NO hurry to have kids, though...and still very apprehensive about having more than one.
11) What was your worst struggle?
Then: Probably being lonely and out of place at school. I always felt like I was on the outskirts of several social groups instead of fitting into one.
Now: Trying to find something art related that holds my interest for more than a few days.
12) What was your biggest joy?
Then: Definitely going to the Fine Arts Center. And anything anime related.
Now: Huh. You know, that's a good question. Right this moment, I'd say Raun's impending visit next week will bring me tons of joy indeed. Otherwise...being alive? I've been kind of "ho-hum" lately. This needs to be remedied.
13) What did you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Then: I made it through another year of school, violin, dance, and visual arts without having a seizure.
Now: I'm a college grad. I'm paying my bills. I'm in an awesome relationship. Hopefully I'm on the cusp of actually starting my independent adult life.
14) What advice would you give your younger self?
"Keep playing the violin, dumbass. Quit dancing or find a better studio, because it's only going to go downhill from here. Go to the Fine Arts Center 9th grade year. Don't take 3-D metalworking for the second time senior year, take ceramics again instead!!!! And research more colleges!"
15) What would your younger self say to you?
"Wow, you're 23 and this is what you do? I'm not going to art school."
16) Looking back, is your life in 2008 what you thought it would be in 1998?
Hard to say. I really didn't know "what I wanted to be" when I was a kid. I knew I eventually wanted to be my own boss. At something. I wanted to be respected for my skills, whatever they turned out to be. I guess I was starting to hope I might be a comics artist. Close, but no cigar.
I honestly don't remember thinking much about the future when I was that age. I was so wrapped up in school and all my activities. I think my life is on the right track, even if it takes some dodgy backroads from time to time.