Q&A

Okay, I’ve always loved getting tagged! And at this point, I have two rounds of questions I need to answer! Let’s get started with the tag from my new friend Sarah.

Favorite restaurant? I like Panda Express, Pei-Wei’s, Flamingo Palace, and… I can’t think of anything else outside of Chinese food at the moment.

Favorite music band/group? I’m not really into any particular band, I like a little bit of this and that from all sorts of artists and groups but none big enough that they come to mind right away.

Favorite tv show? THIS QUESTION TORTURES ME NOWADAYS. I HAVE SO MANY FAVORITES! Sherlock, Dr Who, The Office, Merlin, Grimm, Warehouse 13,  Once Upon a Time, Castle; I CAN’T JUST PICK ONE THAT’S LIKE ASKING WHO MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME IS  YOU JUST CAN’T PICK ONE………. Sherlock Holmes to that question, but never mind, I’m ruining my own argument.

Favorite movie? I’ve been consistently saying The Avengers for pretty much a solid year so let’s stick with that.

If you could be friends with one celebrity-who? Wow, I have no idea, there are some really nice celebrities out there like Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Evans– and Martin Freeman is hilarious. But I’m going to break down and say Robert Downy Jr!  He’d be great fun; I can tell!

If you could marry one celebrity-who? This is even more intense because you need to marry someone who will treat you right. Right? So, without a doubt, without second thoughts: Tom Hiddleston. By far one of the most gentlemanly, considerate yet down to earth celebrities in this day and age. After him, I go for Benedict Cumberbatch. *sighes* five years ago I would never believe I would be likng British guys, but look at me now.

You could live in a movie-which one? Um okay, did you just want my head to malfunction? There are too many to choose from! I’m going to go with my first thought, which would be Star Wars!

Biggest pet-peeve? Gosh, I know I have more then a few, why can’t I think of any of them? Why was I born so optimistic? I’ll think of one after I publish this post.

Biggest fear? Never having or loosing friends. As someone with the ENFP personality type, I learned that people and friendships are very important to me. This is something I’ve known for a long time but didn’t realize was actually  in my DNA, so to speak. I really need to have friends but I always loose contact of the few that I do make. So, it’s always one of the biggest fears I have when I make new friends; that I’ll loose them. Sometimes when we’re just hanging out, I’ll just look at them and think: I don’t ever want to loose you. Or you. Or you. And certainly not you.

If you could change your hair color-which one? Well, my hair color is a sandy blonde/brown. If I could change it, I’d try black first. I love black hair, especially on guys. Then maybe I’d try a really obnoxious brown/red mix. Haha. And then pink. Because I might like sci-fi and murder mysteries but I’m still a girl at heart.

And these other questions were free to grab and answer from this blog; and a couple were fun looking so I just had to give them a try!

You are eating ice cream, when you get a nice big dollop on your nose. Do you wipe it off with a napkin, ignore it, or try to lick it off with your tongue? I would probably swipe it off with my finger and then eat it!

What is your favorite candy? I like Milkway bars, special dark Hershey’s chocolate… I’m not a super huge candy eater.

What book are you reading now? Or what was the last book you read? I’m still in the middle of The Time Machine. I know, it’s taking me forever. I need to pull the book off the shelf and not put it back till I’m done with it that way I’ll actually finish it.

What’s the most exciting thing to happen to you while blogging? (Nice comment, hit a certain amount of followers, ect) Probably hitting over a 100 followers. That was really exciting. Thank you again, especially to the next ten of you who have come along since.

Artsy (drawing, writing, creating) or sporty? Or both? I think I’m more artsy; I prefer writing, creating stories and characters and communicating than running or biking every day.

Red & white or blue & yellow? Blue and yellow. Or both. Or all four together in a colorful rainbow. Turned into cotton candy. I mean, I would eat that. . . . . look at me, I’m turning into Willy Wonka.

Favorite color for a house? Something neutral, I suppose, like a cream or something just soft. I guess that’s what I’m used to. Who knows, maybe if I had my own house and was feeling excited, maybe I’d paint it red. Or blue.

Cooking or baking? BOTH! I like both, but I suppose I like cooking a teeny bit more. With baking you have to be so precise or else the chemistry could get messed up and your muffins could turn out wrong. With cooking it’s a bit of this and that and toss this in and measure that with your hand and throw it all together and it can come out awesome!

Dickens or Austen? Neither. Sorry. I’m kinda of a Arthur Conan Doyle/Agatha Christie/mystery genre type of girl.

Well, that was a lot of fun but I must draw this to a close. Everyone, have a good Memorial Day, okay?

~Jamie

A Firecracker Post

I have a lot to say sometimes but not enough for the different topics to make up separate posts, so that’s when I make up one of these and *babble* from one thing to the other like a little firecracker. Thankfully, I’ve heard you guys like it when I ramble, so this is okay.

My bathroom was the home of three cockroaches and a scorpion last night. Yeah. *dramatic voice* But then, genocide happened! In five minutes flat. And I was terrified. lol, Well, until I found the scorpion, then I wasn’t really scared anymore. I was just like, “Hey, a scorpion; I’ve killed a couple hundred of these, this is my forte, I know what to do with this; you’ve met your doom tonight you tiny devil!” Anyway … it was disgusting overall. And I want my mattress off the ground for the summer.

I saw Disney’s Alice in Wonderland for the first time this week. I figured before I watch the one with Johnny Depp (yes, I am still going through my Johnny Depp/quirkier movies stage), I better just see what the original story is like beforehand. It was…. strange and in a few ways almost disturbing (specifically the oyster story, ohmygosh, what the heck was that?) but overall I enjoyed it. It dragged in the middle for me but the beginning and end was intriguing enough.

I’m looking forward to watching the live action film.

It is near the end of May and I would be crazy to not acknowledge that it has been a full year since I first reopened The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and had him walk off the pages back into my life. Thanks to, well, this blog, which I have filled with things that I want to remember, I was able to trace the exact date—the exact Sunday—that Dylan and I—excuse me, The Doctor and I—decided to begin reading the same stories together. I’m pretty sure it was the sixth of May. And after that, a whole year was spent getting back into literature= Dracula twice, Murder on the Orient Express, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and volumes of Sherlock Holmes, including all four novels.  It. Was. Amazing. If only we could have finished them together before May was up; WHY IS LIFE CRUEL?

Either way, that was one of the best things to happen to me and I’m pretty sure getting back into Sherlock Holmes changed my life. I think I would be a very different individual if I hadn’t gotten back to reading. So, at this moment, I want to thank you, Doctor, for taking the time to read with me like you did; I know it must have been difficult sometimes making it work with a job and school and other things too. But I really really appreciate you reading with me. I miss you a lot and I’m still waiting for you drive over to show me the Tardis on your key chain….

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I’m getting sentimental now, let’s move on..

Oh yeah.. and…. and than this… this below happened…

Last night Kayla and I saw Star Trek from 2009.  . . . . . . . .  Um, well, it didn’t convert me into a Trekkie or anything but it was good to finally see something Trek that was decent (I’m still gagging and washing my eyes out from that half an episode I saw, like, a year ago). It was a pretty good movie, although there was an excess amount of flares. Thankfully my mom watched it with us so she was able to point out, “oh, hey, that’s Scotty, he did all the beaming on the Enterprise” ect whenever these iconic characters were introduced. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known, like, oh hey that’s so and so–except for Spock; he was easy. Overall: it was good. We’ll see if Into Darkness with Benedict Cumberbatch does anything more for me when we go see it.

Favorite character? I have no idea.

Well, I’ve let out some steam… so, I don’t have much else to just go on about for a paragraph or two. What am I doing today? I’m going to be out shopping with my mom later this afternoon and then will be babysitting the neighbor dogs for the evening. And I’ll be watching a movie by myself too… probably that live action Alice In Wonderland movie. Hope it’s good!

Have a good weekend everybody; especially to all my internet friends who get to be at Star Wars Weekends! I’M SO ENVIOUS! Anyway…. live long and prosper.

I can’t believe I just said that.

~Jamie

Summer Bucket List

So, I did a summer bucket list last year and I thought I might as well make one for this summer, too. I don’t know if I’ll feel like getting around to some of them (or if I’ll have guts to do one or two of them aka cutting my hair short) but it looks cool in a list. Like I’m going to be productive or something. And me thinks that’s a good first step.

Summer Bucket List

Pirates of the Caribbean marathon because it’s a pirate’s life for me.

Cut my hair short (Claudia Donovan style or Natasha Romanoff style; there’s almost no difference.)

Try to work more on Forever Fairy because its my story and The Doctor’s story.

Read more HG Wells or Jules Verne.

Star Wars marathon with family.

Slowly redo my wardrobe via Goodwill/Savers/thrift stores.

Have a water fight with my little brother for memories.

Continue to learn new piano pieces (mental note to learn Davy Jones’ music box melody.)

Begin Downton Abbey because it’s about time I see what it’s all about.

Decide whether I should attempt Camp NaNo again in July or wait for November ( and if I work in July, to attempt to finish a 30,000 word challenge.)

Skype with one of my internet besties because I really need to talk to someone, anyone!, soon.

Watch Dr Who; nuff said.

Sweat off a couple pounds in our blasted heat.

Blog faithfully here and elsewhere; also comment faithfully.

Attempt to get through my dark movies/Tim Burton/Johnny Depp stage and figure out if it really is just a stage or if I really do like darker, quirky, weird movies that happen to have Depp in them.

Read a ‘random’ new book off the mystery shelf from the library because that’s an exciting idea.

Continue going through some self discovery and come to grips with a few things.

Learn to talk more like Captain Jack Sparrow because it’s a pirate’s life for me, yo ho.

Okay, well, this looks very productive. I can’t wait to see what I actually accomplish. I need to remember to copy and paste this to a sticky note for my computer desktop, so I don’t forget it!

~Jamie

While I’m Floating

Well, life is strange right now; one day still blurs into another now that we haven’t gone to church for several weeks; going to church on Sunday always helped the week feel right; Monday felt like Monday and Tuesday felt like Tuesday. Not so much anymore but hopefully a new routine will help that.

I miss seeing people; church was pretty much the only place where I was able to socialize with people. I miss The Doctor a lot, I miss Sherlock Holmes a lot too; a year of reading Doyle’s works very faithfully every week set my mind in a certain pattern that I really miss. There was a security in doing the same thing every week: talk, pick a story, read the story, see each other on Sunday and gush over that story, talk some more and then pick another story. Week after week for at least eleven months; it was one of the few things that stayed consistently the same and it made me feel secure. It was nice knowing someone else was enjoying the exact same thing I was and wanted to do it with me as much I as I wanted to do it with him.

That pattern has now been shattered and I feel like I’m floating in space or under a great big river underwater not really knowing what to do now. No more reading, no more seeing my best friend, no more church. I miss it a lot.

The only problem with all this is that my dad will use (already has tried to use) the church and even my best friend as a manipulation tool to try to get me to start seeing him again on his time table and not mine. I do not understand why he can’t wait for me to be ready on my own time or that it is impossible for me to even consider attending a church with him. It hurts a lot to have things that are very dear to you used as dangled bait in front of your face as though your a dog who can’t see that’s it’s attached to a string. It’s hurtful and cruel.

I am thankful, though, that I do know what I need to do and that I now have the freedom hold my ground as to where my boundaries are and what I feel comfortable in doing. I’m done in being constantly run over, in being emotionally manipulated and being mentally frightened by what other people think. I need to do what it takes to protect myself; I’m done with being forced into a tiny box with no consideration to my feelings or needs as a person while being told that that is “biblical female submissiveness”.  I’m done with that crap and I’m learning to stand up for myself and for my mom and siblings against patriarchy that has been horribly twisted and blown way out of biblical proportion. Enough is enough. The sad thing is that very few people have been able to understand our side of it or are unwilling to see how big of a problem it is and that really sucks.

So, yeah, those are some conflicting feelings I’ve been working through and I’ve been very grateful to God that I, as of yet, have not yet been completely crushed under the pressure.

So, I’ve had been struggling a lot recently, but comfort things always come in handy around now; like reading. I recently picked up my collection of HG Wells’ novels and started the Time Machine as sort of an antidote against my Holmes-reading-withdrawal (I think I and The Doctor have become as addicted to Sherlock Holmes as he’s addicted to heroin, actually). It’s been an interesting substitute to say the least. I like HG’s way of titling characters without necessarily giving them all names, like “the Medical Man” “the Provincial Mayor” “the Time Traveler” “the Editor” and then there’s Filby, who  has quite the personality.

It’s different but interesting and enlightening in many ways in regards to my own writing style but I’m not going to get into that right now!

The other comfort is that Kayla and I have been together again since she’s come home. I helped her rearrange her room and we’ve watched a lot of The Office recently and a couple comedies together. Although we’re very different in personality and have different tastes when it comes to almost everything (clothes, music, ect), we get along very well, and it’s nice to have someone to lean on. We make a good team. And yes, I have been very grateful for having my own room now that she’s returned. Except that I’m directly under her bedroom and Nathan likes to be in Kayla’s room and he does not know how to walk softly, so in the morning it’s like a jack hammer is on above my head while I’m trying to sleep. My mornings have been bizarre as of late.

So anyway, to tie this kinda mash of ramblings together, I’ve kinda been floating through space here, but I’m learning a lot about myself and about my personal needs and personal convictions; I really hope this devastating experience really helps build and shape me into who I’m suppose to be in the future.

Because my story isn’t. over. yet.

~Jamie

Firsts

I thought it would be a fun idea to chronicle some of the firsts in my life so I don’t forget, in big things and little things, and in no certain order at all.

So, here we go. Let’s see what I can remember.

The first tooth I lost was when I was four years old in a fish and chips restaurant. I actually can still conjure up the rather blurry memory of digging it out of my mouth.

The first young man to ask me to be his proper dance partner was Stephen, and that was this past November. We’d actualy just met several months prior at Family Camp and we just really hit it off well.  Whenever we’re at the same parties we end up being together for the entirety of the evening. He’s lots of fun.

The first story I wrote was about a boy named Tom and his siblings. I was about seven or eight years old.

The first superhero movie I ever saw was Captain America: The First Avenger. (The second superhero movie I saw was Thor.)

The first mystery series I ever read (as far as I can remember) was Cam Jansen, the girl with the photographic memory. Did anyone else read Cam when they were young? Or Encyclopedia Brown? Or The Boxcar Children? Or American Girl History Mysteries? It’s no wonder my primary entertainment is sleuths and whodunits nowadays, that is all I read as a kid.

My first official crush was Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes. Unashamed.

The first vampire book I ever read was Dracula. Not Twilight. That’s how it should be. (By the way, Dracula? Best. Book. Ever.)

The first person I ever wanted to marry was my best friend Ben. It was kinda devastating to learn that cousins couldn’t marry however.

The first time I got to pet stingrays was at the zoo. But the first time I got to feed stingrays was two year later at Sea World. Both of these things are one of the best feelings in the world, especially if you’re an animal lover, like myself.

The first poster I ever bought was Star Wars related.

I’m pretty sure the first movie I ever saw in theaters was VeggieTale’s Jonah Movie. And I still like that movie.

The first pet I ever personally owned with a hermit crab.  Who’s name I can’t remember anymore.

The first laptop I ever owned weighed about 100 pounds and could barely run the old Army Man games (well, it wasn’t literally a 100 pounds but it was so old that it was just super heavy). My parents were nice enough to get me better one when I proved to be responsible.

My first boyfriend (and so far only boyfriend) is not even a boy. But he’s a he. And he’s the neighbor dog. Clarence. Who adores me because I’ve been walking him for nearly four years. And he treats me like I’m his girlfriend. Because he gets jealous of my attention. So everybody says he’s my boyfriend. Speaking of which: he was my Valentine this year! He laid on my feet, gave me his paw all on his own and even gave me a kiss on face when I asked for one.  Oh, if you were wondering, he’s a Golden Lab. And he’s my first boyfriend.

The first PG-13 movie I saw was The Blind Side.

The first kitten I ever saw delivered from beginning to end was the oldest of Princess’s litter, Dot.

And I would tell you all about the first time someone called me crazy but I don’t remember because it was so long ago and there have been so many numerous times that it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact first time. So, anyway.

~Jamie