So what do you want to be when you grow up? I AM grown-up.
1. Name: Nikki online. Most everyone else calls me Nicole. Or grandma.
2. Age: 22
3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? Honestly? Pretty close to where I am now (Hilton Head, SC). I grew up in Charleston, SC after spending my very early years in New England. I've always been much more fond of warm weather (I think it's the Puerto Rican in me), and can't tolerate the cold at all. If you get anywhere below 70 my teeth are chattering. I have really poor circulation, and am a little underweight, which is probably part of the problem there. I also love the ability to be able to go out to the beach whenever I like. There's something very calming to me about sitting on the sand and watching the ocean and the clouds. Sometimes I just curl up right in the sand and go to sleep. It makes for some very sandy clothes, and a very sandy interior for my car, but I love that warmth. I used to think my ambition was to eventually move back to Charleston (my parents moved away from there to Alabama right after I started college), but on recent visits I've found that it's not the same as it was back in high school. I still love it, certainly, but it's growing into a bigger city, and I like things a little more slow and easy going. Plus right now I can drive down to shop or eat in Savannah, GA in about 30 minutes, so I've got the best of both worlds.
I think I rambled a bit there.
4. What would your Room of Requirement look like?
Big windows. Great big windows. There would also be lots of little cozy sofas and side tables for setting chais, cocoas, etc (ETC MEANING PIE). Like I said, I like to keep warm- inside and out. There would be plenty of lamps for evenings as I like being able to see the people am I with or the book I am reading. There would be music playing, but I can't quite decide on the means. A stereo system would just seem out of place. (I'm picturing lots of deep mahogany colors, dark blues, golds, emeralds). If I could get a really old and elegant looking gramophone? That could play any format of music? That's what I'd want right there. During the day it would be the ideal place for me to curl up in a sunny spot and read or nap, and by evening it would be a wonderful, calm place for socializing with friends.
5. Who is your least favorite Harry Potter character?
I always have a hard time with this. I tend to stick with Cho Chang. I understand her reasons for getting so upset, but I also place a high value on being rational. Once I was on the screenname of a male friend of mine and a mutual friend of ours IMed me. She was telling me her relationship woes and I did my best to help- never stating that it was me and not him (though I thought it was rather obvious as we write things very differently). Anyway, I gave her my best advice on the matter, and she kept saying she couldn't do what I was suggesting. When I finally asked why she said "I'm a girl! I'm allowed to be irrational! You wouldn't understand!" I wanted to hit her. Hard. I spent 7 years of my life at a single-sex school and have had enough whiny irrational girls to last me a lifetime. Yes, we are allowed emotions. Definitely. And yes, once in a while we are allowed to be irrational in favor of our feelings, but whining and crying because you refuse to do what you know you ought to out of a sense of cowardice makes me sick. I think I've gotten off on a bit of a tangent. I guess I'll just leave it with saying "I don't like people who complain about things they can fix, who are quick-tempered, irrational, and won't get the hell over it."
6. Is the glass half empty or half full?
Either way, the waiter is not getting a very good tip.
7. Give us a quotation (Can be from a famous person, a song, or even a poem-whatever you want) you feel represents your life or personality.
You get a million of them:
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.- Often incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. The original author is not known for certain.
"Your MOM goes to college!"- Napoleon Dynamite
"I wish you wouldn't look at me like that Napoleon" "I wish you'd shut up and get out of my life!" - Same
"Since childhood, you have been hiding the guilty secret that you feel no desire to be moral, no desire to seek self-immolation, that you dread and hate your code, but dare not say it even to yourself, that you're devoid of those moral 'instincts' which others profess to feel. The less you felt, the louder you proclaimed your selfless love and servitude to others, in dread of ever letting them discover your own self, like a skeleton in the closet of your body. And they, who were at once your dupes and your deceivers, they listened and voiced their loud approval, in dread of ever letting you discover that they were harboring the same unspoken secret." (1052)
"If you identify your actual belief, you will find a triple damnation- of yourself, of life, of virtue- in the grotesque conclusion you have reached: you believe that morality is a necessary evil. Do you wonder why you live without dignity, love without fire and die without resistance? Do you wonder why, wherever you look, you see nothing but unanswerable questions, why your life is torn by impossible conflicts, why you spend it straddling irrational fences to evade artificial choices, such as soul or body, mind or heart, security or freedom, private profit or public good? Do you cry that you find no answers? By what means did you hope to find them? You reject your tool of perception- your mind- then complain that the universe is a mystery. You discard your key, then wail that all doors are locked against you. You start out in pursuit of the irrational, then damn existence for making no sense." (1053-4)
Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand
"They may say you cannot frolic. They may scorn you for frolicking in public places. I say, frolic by example, and others will follow suit." -Naked Dancing Llama
"I am the Cheez Whiz Mr. Cracker warned you about."~Me (Derived from a lyric of a Jump, Little Children song which goes "Even Mr. Cracker never counted on Cheez Whiz.")
8. In your life, who comes first: family or friends?
Friends, but I treat them like family. I love my family, don't get me wrong, but we tend to have very separate interests, and have not been very close. I have never been one to confide in my parents, and they don't confide in me. Generally confiding in my parents got me in trouble. Once recently I asked my mother some advice about ending a relationship and her answer was tantamount to "Ignore your problem and hope it goes away." I decided to not ask her for relationship advice again. My friends I sort of adopt; rather literally. My younger friends all call me grandma as I bake them cookies, take them out to the grocery store and generally fuss and worry over their wellbeing. I tell them nearly everything, and I hope they feel they can trust me in return. When people turn on me for a decision I have made (because in the end, I make the decisions for my life regardless of the opinions of others) it is a heavy blow.
9. What is your favorite childhood memory?
...I, um... I really didn't have that happy of a childhood. It was ok, I guess. No! No wait! I've got one! I was in 4th grade. The teacher was about to hand back the history test and was telling everyone how dissapointed she was, that we'd all done very poorly, and that most of us failed. I was devastated. I hid my face in my crossed arms, nose touching my desk. She then said, "Except for Nicole, who got a 98." I couldn't believe it. It got a pumpkin sticker and the test hung on the bulletin board for months.
I have lots of happy high school memories, but before that I mostly just spent time reading by myself. I didn't get along well with other kids. They thought I was too weird. I was a bit too hyper for them I think.
I also remember being in 2nd grade, waiting for Santa one Christmas Eve. I always wanted to sleep in a trunk when I was little because I wanted to grow up to be a vampire and the trunk was the closest thing I could get to a coffin. Mom was always scared I would suffocate. I remember her telling me that Santa would see my empty bed and think I wasn't asleep, and therefore wouldn't leave me any presents. That memory makes me laugh.
10. What would you say is your biggest flaw?
I pick at things- physically and emotionally. If it's a band-aid on my arm I can't leave it alone long enough for it to do any real good. I always end up peeling it off. If it's a bit of paint flaking off of the wall I'll stand there and flake it off until the spot just gets bigger and bigger and looks awful. I know I'm doing it, but I can't stop. I do the same thing with negative thoughts. I ruminate over them far too much until I'm seeing things that aren't there and getting upset over small stupid things. I guess this goes hand in hand with my Cho answer. I know that I do this, and I hate it, so I also hate it in others. I tend to not whine to others about it though. I keep these things to myself, generally.
11. If you had been at Hogwarts during Harry’s fifth year, do you think that you would have joined the D.A.?
That's really hard for me to say. I read over this application in its entirety before I got started and this is the one that stumped me. I'm a stickler for rules. I like following them. Everytime I've not followed the rules or instructions something goes wrong. Yet, I would have a hard time resisting the allure of a new learned skill- not necessarily so much to fight Umbridge, but just to know. I would love to be able to have the skills at hand to defend myself. If I could overcome my fear of getting caught, I'd be right in there.
12. Describe how you react to difficult or stressful situations.
I don't like stress. I hate it. I avoid it at all costs. In past years I have dealt with stress primarily by taking it out on myself. I've just gotten through a lot of therapy though, and am doing a much better job about learning to effectively assert myself. I'm getting better about talking to people when I have a problem with them, instead of letting them put me down and/or take advantage of me. I have a tendency to brush off the shortcomings of others and magnify my own. Sometimes I still get panicky, but not to the point I was. I'm not having mental breakdowns anymore, which is nice. ^_^
13. Which do you value more: compassion or justice?
A bit of both. Compassion tempered by justice. I think you should start by being compassionate, giving someone a chance. But if time and time again a person proves themselves unworthy, incapable, or simply not interested in the well being of others or the group, then kick them to the curb. At that point you are no longer treating them compassionately. You are teaching them that it's ok to not live up to your true potential by simply taking advantage of others instead of using your own skills to get you ahead. This could also be read more in a legal sense, that is, if a child steals bread because he is starving and gets caught, then compassion. Give him dinner, but also find someone to take care of him and teach him to be a productive member of society. If someone gets a little insane and stabs her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend to death- justice. With age comes the resposibility of self-control, of dealing with your emotions and impulses properly. If you are on the brink of insanity, get help. I know personally that mental health centers can accomodate even those without the money or insurance to receive care. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.
14. Would you say that you’re a child at heart, or that you have an old soul?
Definitely a child at heart. I am easily distracted by all things shiny, enjoy puns, kittens, and sticking odd objects up my nose.
15. Which Hogwarts House do you think that the Sorting Hat would place you in?
I am consistently a Hufflepuff, which I believe to be fitting. As far as a secondary house goes, I've been named a Gryffinpuff, a Ravenpuff, and a Slytherpuff. So it's really hard for me to say. I think I'm pretty balanced. Hufflepuff though, in the end, weighs out the most for me. I am a very motherly sort of person. Your friend's weird mother that always has cookies out and ready for you, but also is covered in paint with her hair frizzing all over the place, flour on her nose and troll dolls on her countertop. The mom that lets you get away with things. Oh, right, houses. Back on track...
...Can I get you anything?
16. If you have a picture of yourself and feel comfortable posting it, please do so! Pictures are fun!
...You asked for it.
Yay for Halloween!
Me and my two best friends from high school. My Christmas present from my parents was a photo shoot of the 3 of us on the beach. These are 3 of 455 awesome photos. :P (Photography by Mark Staff)
Same day, photos by Claire. That's me with my boss' puppy, Tucker; and then me with his daughter, Ollie.
Because sometimes drinking Jack Daniels on the steps of a Baptist Church in full view of downtown Savannah is the right thing to do.
Represent, yo.
Guess which one is me. Hint: It is not my mom or my little brother.
This is me excavating a dinosaur while daintily eat a grilled cheese sandwich.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
THE END.
Some of my answers were fairly short. I hope the longer answers made up for them. :P Thank you for a very pleasant post-Thanksgiving Meal activity.