OH! I’ve been tagged.

I got tagged by Erinnightwalker, who is awesome. (Seriously.)

Rules

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random thoughts about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you have tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah, blah, blah, you legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Like Erin, I’m only tagging one person who is completely not obligated to do this. If I didn’t tag you and you still want to participate, feel free to consider this a tag.

Random Thoughts

1. I hate watching the news because the anchors say everything exactly the same way and it drives me crazy.
2. I hate the idea that love is all you need. Because you need a lot more than just love to survive, especially when the odds are stacked against you. (Don’t get me wrong. Love helps. But it’s fuel — you still need a car and keys and, you know, clothing and shite.)
3. Speaking of, the person I love most on the planet is my mom, and always will be my mom.
4. I am more like Annie Edison of Community than I’d like to admit. (Also, it’s rather telling she’s my least favorite character.)
5. I love maple syrup but I hate Tim Horton’s coffee, so I am only half a real Canadian.
6. I feel I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do. I hope this means I’ll have a full life.
7. Zoolander is one of my favourite movies.
8. Because I lived for 10 years (many of them formative years) in the States, my accent is a weird blend of British Columbian and Hawaiian and I find it impossible to be consistent with either Canadian or American spelling, even in a single blog post.
9. I once saved a person from drowning.
10. I am an avid reader until a book becomes required. Then I don’t want to touch it.
11. I am considering continuing to go to school until I die.

Questions Answered!

1. What is your favorite bird? Ooh. Um. Probably ravens and crows — the family corvidae in general — for obvious reasons. I also really like owls, hawks, cardinals, and blue jays (also part of corvidae, but I’m naming them specifically).
2. If you could have any book in the world, what would it be? Earth Begotten by Jacqueline Carey. The text is free to read on her site, but the book itself only ran 50 copies. It’s a collector’s edition and it sounds beautiful. I’m a huge fan of the Kushiel series — by huge fan, I mean those books affected me deeply and spiritually — and I would be ecstatic to have the companion book in my library.
3. Any movie that scarred and/or had a dramatic impact on your early life?  I have to choose just one? Jaws made me terrified of swimming and water — even in pools — for months. After Jurassic Park I couldn’t go to the bathroom without my mom for 6 months. Species I just found terrifying in general, especially as I wanted to go to First Knight but dad and my sister decided I was too wussy a ten year old and took me to Species instead. They also did this with The Puppet Masters. Actually, I may have just uncovered why I’ve had nightmares for 20 years.
4. Ever gone surfing? Yes! Once. It was my surfing lesson. I never actually made it to the standing position before a rogue current smashed my board into a rock wall, where I clung to the rocks in a small crescent as each subsequent wave sent the board into my face. I eventually got helped out, rolled onto my board and tugged back to shore, where mom needed to help me to walk to the car. I was on crutches for two weeks with a giant, eggplant bruise on my thigh. It really sucked. (Side note: I’d always sort of planned to take another go at it, even after moving back to Canada. However, my spinal injury means I’ll never be able to surf again. I’m slightly relieved, slightly disappointed.)
5. What is the scent of love for you? Roses.
6. What is your stance on mythical creatures/beings? There has to be some basis for the myths. I maintain an open mind as to their existence. I mean, I know the gods exist, and I know the fae do…so unicorns isn’t much of a stretch.
7. Have you ever read a book you hated so much you tossed it? If so, what and why? Oh, gods. A book? Yeah. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. And I didn’t toss it aside lightly; I threw it with great force. Getting into why I hate it will be a very long blog post, so instead read this and you shall understand.
8. What would your dream home be? A Victorian-style, very large house with little nooks and crannies and idiosyncrasies, a huge kitchen, at least one claw-foot bath tub custom made to swimming pool size, an indoor swimming pool cut into the rock in the basement, and…you know what, I’m pretty much describing the Sudbury school I went to in Haiku, except that wasn’t strictly Victorian style. That house was awesome. Anyway, dream house would also have a massive library with big, comfy leather chairs in which to sit and read, and there would be a huge yard — a few acres at least — where the dogs and kids could run wild, I could have a garden, a fire pit for ritual, and a temple separate from the house for indoor ritual. I’d also want room for an art studio and a yarn room. So I just need to win the lottery, basically.
9. Do dreams mean anything? Yeah. If nothing else, they mean I’m a seriously fucked up individual. But I have had a few dreams with meaning as to my personal, spiritual growth, and I’ve had prescient dreams about 9/11 and natural disasters.
10. Which came first, chicken or egg? I don’t really care because they’re both delicious.
11. Did you do it? And if you did, would you do it again? Yeah. This was fun!

Ok — now I tag Finn/Leah of An Seanchas Finn — and like I said, you don’t have to do this.

Questions for the tagged

1. Do you have any imaginary friends? Did you in your early life?
2. If you could have any animal companion/pet you wanted, what would it be and why?
3. What animal are you most afraid of?
4. Do you believe in ghosts?
5. If you were in a Hogwarts house, which one would it be? Why?
6. Pens or pencils?
7. How do you feel about motorcycles?
8. Do you ever sing along to the theme song for your favourite TV shows?
9. Canadian or American spelling — which do you prefer?
10. What do you think of when you see the colors blue and white together?
11. Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a really awesome idea^TM, write it down, and find out in the morning that it makes no sense whatsoever?