I Want to Play!
Or, The Giant Survey
From
Marissa's journal. Things that M'ris said that I agreed with are bold, everything else is my response.
01. I discovered e-mail in grade school, and I've never played in a MUD or a MUSH. In fact, I don't really understand what either of them are.
02. I never watched TV much, but these days I watch The Daily Show, and Friends, and (cough, mutter) The O.C. I occasionally watch things like Sex and the City, or SNL, or shows that play on TLC, and I some days when I don't have class in the morning I watch mindless shows.
03. My favorite shows had better not get canceled for a few more seasons yet.
04. I enjoy drawing and painting. I'm rather good at both when drawing/painting from a picture; if relying on my brain alone, I am dreadful. I once sold one of my paintings.
05. I like music. But sometimes silence is just as good.
06. I'm actually pretty sure somebody understands.
07. I hate when people type in all caps online. Boo, hiss!
08. I also hate people who TypE LyKe D1s.
09. I don't mind people who cannot speak/write in proper English.
10. I live in (and around) the same city that I was born in.
11. I'm still in training. For everything.
12. I wish I had a job that paid me something. No, even better--I wish I had a job that I enjoyed, and that paid me well, and that gave me lots of time and mental flexibility to write.
13. I tend not to lose contact with people on my own, though I often go through periods of silence. I also very rarely answer email on the day that I receive it, unless it's really short. I need time to think things through.
14. For some things in my life, forgetfulness is a blessing. Though, for the most part, I am possessive about my memories; this is my life, and it has made me who I am. I'd like to remember it for as long as I can.
15. I do not have a fitness goal, beyond becoming more fit than I currently am. ... Unless, of course, aiming to one day be in an adventure race counts as a goal.
16. My butt gets too cold if I am indecently dressed in the winter, even inside. This is Canada! And not only my butt gets cold, but my hands and feet and legs and entire self. I am easily chilled.
17. I complain about never having enough time to get things done, but mostly this is a problem of me expecting too much of myself, and avoiding doing things that I dislike for as long as I can get away with it.
18. I have a lot to learn.
19. I enjoy talking to friends and having interesting conversations. The mere thought of small talk is enough to make me feel anxious.
20. I check my email every day. Compulsively.
21. I am a writer, and at this point in my career, I have the confidence to write and even to send stories out. I even sell things, sometimes.
22. I hate when people yell. Especially if the person yelling is close to me, or (worse) is me.
23. I want to travel the globe and hang out in other countries someday. I've been thinking a whole lot about visiting Britain, especially. I simply worry that I'll allow myself to get too stuck in my everyday life to actually go anywhere rather than just think about it.
24. I collect things, books especially. As I child I had a soap collection and a sticker collection.
25. I am start-and-go on nearly every project I work on. I always want to finish what I start, but sometimes I'd rather abandon it for a time than finish something that will only have to be discarded when I'm done. It's that perfectionist streak.
26. I never drink coffee.
27. I enjoy going to new places and doing new things, though I am comforted by routine and familiar surroundings.
28. I'm a weird person. Without a doubt.
29. I believe that human beings can understand each other, with time, effort, patience and love, no matter what their backgrounds are; however, I sometimes believe that the effort is more than some of them are going to want to put into the situation. Nicely put, M'ris.
30. I love the sound of cats purring, but I shouldn't hear it too close up, since they make me snozzly.
31. I played the clarinet in high school, and have a Native American flute that I experimented with for a few years.
32. I think that animals are part of the cycle of propagation and predation, and that excesses to one side or the other in the animal rights issue are dangerous.
33. I procrastinate.
34. Bratty kids make me sad.
35. I enjoy movies quite discriminately: I like to pick them apart when we're done watching them. Or sometimes while we're watching them, depending on the setting. Just so long as I've had time to ponder. I hate talking about a movie right after I've watched it--unless, of course, I'm totally blown away or hate it with a passion.
36. I don't mind some flavors of cleaning. But I still wish things magically stayed clean on their own.
37. I'm not really interested in pornography/erotica; a good love scene in the context of a work of fiction that isn't focused entirely on that can be all right.
38. Crowds unnerve me.
39. I am not married. I am not dating anyone. My standards are high, and past experience has made me raise the bar.
40. I don't have a friends list, really, but I'd be interested in seeing how people answer these, so e-mail me or post in your journal and e-mail me the link if you want to do these.
There appear to be numbers missing here. Hmmm.
43. I have a heart-shaped birthmark on my thigh, and freckles, and even a mole or two.
44. I live in a brand-new house and a basement apartment. I enjoy both, though rarely does a week go by where I don't wake up at least once wondering where I am.
41. I really enjoy thoughtful gifts, even if they cost nothing.
42. I like people who are a bit out of the ordinary, and I like people who are a lot out of the ordinary even more.
More missing numbers....
45. I love interesting clothes/costumes, but I would never say that I love fashion. I have described my everyday look as "Gap sweater," which is code for plain, warm things. I wear jeans and shirts and don't think about things much more than that. But I love my renaissance dress, and lust after odd, too-expensive clothes, too.
46. I could not be normal if I TRIED.
47. I don't have children, and don't know if I ever will. Probably, but who can tell?
48. I have ridden a horse more times than I have fingers ... and toes ... but wouldn't say that I'm a good rider. And I'm allergic to horses, which complicates the matter.
49. I have never role-played, and really don't understand how it works. When people tell stories about their role-playing games in their journals, I am confused.
50. I am always pleasantly surprised when I hear from someone new in my e-mail and sometimes I give them recipes.
51. I like silence at times. Sometimes I think silence follows me.
52. I lived in New Haven, Connecticut until I was three.
53. I got glasses sometime during high school, and now wear them most of the time in public. I want contacts. I had braces, and now I have lovely teeth.
54. I hate leader/follower dynamics. Can't we just work together without someone taking control?
55. I like being alone sometimes.
56. I would rather bake than cook, and I'd really rather avoid dishes altogether.
57. I am not a messy person, but neither am I particularly organized.
I organize my stuff to fit the surroundings I have, and then watch in bewilderment as it all falls into disarray.
58. I need to exercise.
59. I like when my friends write me letters and emails, it makes me feel special. And noticed, and important, and cared for.
60. I'm cynical sometimes, though I'm also an optimist. "Cynical optimist," that's me.
61. I keep in touch with Carly, obviously, as she's my roommate and best friend and all. As for other people from high school, it seems that I wasn't much liked. Though I am invited to a high school reunion type party that will take place next Saturday, so we shall see...
62. Commericals sometimes make me feel a bit weepy, especially anything with wide, sweeping vistas.
63. I overreact about things sometimes.
64. I cry at music sometimes.
65. I have odd dreams. (Please see post-apocalyptic dinosaur dream mentioned below.)
66. I wish I could travel more often.
67. I like living, growing things. My plants even have names.
68. Heights are fine, so long as no one is expecting me to jump. The glass floor at the CN Tower is fun.
69. I believe in something greater than humanity, something more than I or anyone else can properly comprehend.
70. I am a pacifist...sort of. I believe that there are things worth dying for, which is a perfectly fine pacifist position; I also believe there are things worth killing for, which is a bit more problematic from a pacifist point of view. My list of things worth killing for is fairly short and doesn't involve most of the things politicians have been attempting to put on it. Again, nicely put, M'ris.
71. I love summer. I love warm breezes and hot summer rain and walking around barefoot. I am only truly warm for those few months of the year. I could avoid winter for years without regret.
72. I would love to seek the nearest corner in a crowded room and find a book, preferably a good one. And if there's someone interesting there who'd like to talk to me about that book, that'd be okay, too.
73. I broke my right arm when I was two and a half by falling down a flight of stairs (which I vividly remember), and my right wrist when I was 13 and was hit by a truck (which I don't remember so much, due to the concussion).
74. I don't like artificial scents. I have a bad sense of smell, and most perfumes smell like chemicals to me.
75. I don't follow any celebrities' gossip or love lives in particular. Because SF writers don't really count as celebrities; they don't get mobbed in the supermarket, etc.
76. I wish I had more true, good friends. Or, that more of my friends lived somewhere remotely close to me.
77. I love to read, period and full stop.
78. I re-read a lot; some books are like friends, and I love to visit.
79. I have issues. It'll take a whole lot of time and trust until I'll feel comfortable enough to talk about them. Colds or headaches, etc., are another matter entirely.
80. I am told I write very well.
81. I can be hard to deal with sometimes.
82. I don't understand the appeal of horror movies.
83. I don't really have an income these days. It makes things ... interesting.
84. I love my family. They just drive me up the wall on a semi-regular basis.
85. On some issues, I'm very firm in my beliefs.
86. I am female.
87. I support gay marriage, period and full stop.
88. I think parents are becoming overprotective these days in strange and ridiculous ways. And are far too willing to sue anyone within throwing distance any time their child scrapes a knee.
89. I did not vote for anyone in the last presidential election, being Canadian and all. Last major election around here, I voted Liberal, though I am NDP at heart.
90. I do not think about dying very often. I am more afraid of dying horribly or painfully or alone than I am of death itself.
91. I do not smoke, and I rarely drink.
92. I come from a very economically mixed family.
93. I HATE when computers freeze.
94. I like talking on the phone to friends. I hate talking on the phone to strangers. (So why do I always end up on reception or the switchboard, hmm?)
95. I don't particularly mind going to the doctors' office.
96. Social anxiety. Yep. That's me. Though in some cases I shut down and become silent, and in others (especially con situations) I feel like I'm running in fast-forward.
97. I have no pager, nor do I see the point of owning one.
98. I can't understand for the life of me why people would get some of the piercings they have, but hey, it's their handbasket. AND their hepatitis risk. I do love my pierced ears, though, all four holes worth. I love, love, love my earrings.
99. I've never had a tattoo. I do not plan on getting one. Though I wouldn't rule the idea out entirely. It'd take something fantastic to make me want to have it on my body forever, though, especially considering the way that I scar....
100. I am done with this survey now. Whew.
