Six Answers For Veggie Carrie*
Last Saturday, I posted this:
Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don’t blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don’t blog about, but you’d like to hear about, and I’ll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on slash, favorite type of underwear, writing techniques etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.
I’ve received several EXCELLENT responses [and would still love more!!], two of which are requiring me to do a little research! Cassandra challenged me to form an opinion about stem cell research, and Candice challenged me to write about the
1) What is your favourite outfit?
Hmmm… I don’t know if I have a favourite “outfit” per say, but I have several favourite items of clothing and accessories! I have a FABULOUS pair of pink stiletto boots that I love (and that the Hubs’ despises.. haha), I have a great pair of old faded jeans that I wear ALL the time, and my favourite shirt combination right now is a long-sleeved white shirt with a colored “wife-beater” over top (I’m currently sporting a yellow one!). As for accessories, I love my big obviously fake diamond earrings, and I’ve been wearing a necklace that my mom gave to me when I was 12 a lot. It’s silver and has a giant snowflake on one side, and the inscription “So perfect are you, …so unlike any other” on the back. Someone gave it to her when she was younger, and she in turn passed it on to me.
2) Well, you’re kind of answering this anyway with your story, but what made you decide to get married so young? Why didn’t you wait until you were a bit older?
I am asked this question A LOT. I’ll be able to explain in greater detail as I progress through our story, but the most simple answer is, I knew. After being with him for only a few weeks I knew without question that I didn’t want to date anyone else and was so excited to begin our ‘forever’ together. It was absolutely not what I intended to happen, but when you know… you know.
3) Which career would interest you apart from teaching? What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Ahhh… I struggle with this a lot. I’m still not 100% convinced that I’m on the right career path, but then again, who ever is? When I was 4 I wrote in a book that I wanted to be a nurse, but I don’t think I could do all the gory parts. I also wanted to be a lawyer for a long time. I LOVE debating, and I was originally an English and Political Science major at my first university. I had to switch into the history major as the university I am at now is much smaller and doesn’t offer anything close to the program that was initially taking. If I hadn’t gotten married I may have stayed on that path, but who knows. I’m at the end of my 4th year now and I honestly don’t know if I could have survived another 3 to complete law school. haha! Lastly, there are two things that I have always, ALWAYS wanted to do and I still secretly hope that someday they might come true. First, I have always wanted to be an author. I love all things to do with books–writing, reading, thinking, processing… I heart it all. I’ve been writing since I was 8 or 9 and have even had a few short works published. I have plans to begin working on a book this summer, but who knows if anything will come of it! Secondly, I have always wanted to be a musician. I have been secretly writing music for years… and have just started to get back into it. I also really miss performing.. I used to sing all through my teenage years a various functions and somehow just sort of got out of it. I know it’s probably just a pipe dream, but I’d die of happiness if either of those ever came true. :)
4) What motivates you to blog?
Hmmm. I think my motivation for blogging has changed a bit since I began this almost a year and a half ago. I began blogging because I really missed writing, and I also really needed a place to vent so that I could stop dumping everything on my husband. It took me a really long time to be happy where we are currently living and I needed somewhere that I could vent my frustrations about life. So I came here. If you have been reading for a while now, you’ll probably notice that the style and tone of my posts has changed over the past few months. Cicada‘s blog was a huge inspiration for me. Her posts are light-hearted, funny and truly enjoyable to read. After visiting her blog I always felt lifted, and I wanted to be able to do that for others. I was tired of writing about how bored I was, and discovered that you can make ANYTHING interesting by changing your perspective on it. Secondly, knowing that people are interested in what I have to say is a HUGE motivation for me. Since adding my site to google analytics I discovered that people were actually reading my posts! I started out getting maybe 13 visitors a day, and now anywhere between 60 – 110 people are visiting daily. It’s nice knowing that I can make someone smile or laugh by something I’ve written, and really, that keeps me going. :)
5) What is your biggest concern about the way the world is today?
I’m going to avoid looking at the huge global/economic/political/social/ethical problems that I know exist, and discuss something that I am wildly passionate about–illiteracy. Having now worked in the primary school system for two years and having been involved in the community for the same, I am SHOCKED at the number of children who struggle with literacy. Last year I worked with 11-12 year old children who were reading at the level of a 6 – 7 year old. They had trouble recognizing words, they couldn’t make connections between the story and the text, comprehension levels were extremely low and they had zero interest in books of any type. The vast majority of children don’t read on their own anymore. Picking up a novel or book to pass free time doesn’t appear to be an option anymore, instead children choose movies, television, video games or the internet to destroy their minds. I am not completely discrediting the media as being completely void of any educational value, but there is something to be said for “good old fashioned reading” and I feel that it is greatly lacking. Worst of all, so many parents don’t encourage their children to read anymore, and without that support, a strong literary foundation is so much more difficult to establish. The television has become a babysitter because it’s easier than taking the time to sit down and spend an hour reading aloud with a child. (I know that there are some GREAT parents/guardians out there who don’t fall into this category, I just wish that there were more of them…) I could rant about this forever, but this post is already REALLY long and I don’t want to bore you with my fight to push for literacy! Haha
6) Do you have any regrets?
Aha. This is always a tricky question. If I sat and thought about it I’m sure I could come up with a massive list of things that I regret doing / not doing, but then that would make me really depressed so I choose not to. Haha! However, there is one distinct regret that I will have for the rest of my life and I can never take back despite my most fervent wish to. My Gumpo passed away on May 5th of 2002. I had the oppourtunity to visit him the night he died but I chose to go out with friends instead. To this day I even remember where I was standing in my Grammy’s basement when my mom encouraged me to go with her to see him. We were very close, and to this day I can’t recall what I was thinking when I chose to go out instead of visiting him, but there is an ache in my heart that will never be filled when I think about it. I know I’ve been mentioning him a lot lately, but this time of year always brings back a flood of memories. I guess I just wish I could have told him one last time how much I loved him, even though I’m sure he knows. I just miss him a lot. J
