2 posts tagged “memes”

Here are my answers to that "Things People Don't Know About You" meme that's been going around. However, I could only think of five right now, even though I was supposed to do eight. If I can think of others, I'll post them, but for now five will just have to do. Also, I don't know if they're really things nobody knows about me, but they're little known facts to say the very least. 

1. Someone once told me that they were certain I was the Antichrist. They even tried to make me admit that I knew I was the Antichrist and that I was just waiting for my chance to take over the world. This person was 100% serious about this. As for me? I'm still not sure whether or not I'm incredibly insulted in regards to that or supremely flattered. On one hand, they thought I was pretty much the living embodiment of evil, but on the other, they thought I had the potential to take over the world. Tough call.

2. In high school, someone started a rumor that I had fake hair because they thought it was too pretty and too long to be real. For a long time after that, a lot of other kids tried to prove that the rumor was true. Some of the cruelest of them tried to set my ponytail on fire once. They apparently thought that if it was a wig, or a weave, or something, it wouldn't burn. I also had random girls run up to me and pull handfuls of my hair really hard for the same reason. I guess they thought it would come off or something. Good times.

3. I had some really weird guy that used to come into the shop where I used to work try repeatedly to get me to model for print ads for his bike shop. He sold like... Harleys and whatnot, I guess, and he wanted me to agree to be dressed up in leather and photographed draping myself all over some of the bikes. I declined, because I personally can't think of anything that would embarrass me more than having pictures of myself in skimpy leather outfits hanging up all over town, but this was nevertheless a running joke among my co-workers for years.

4. I'm borderline obsessed with old ephemeral films from the '40s and '50s -- you know, the ones that taught kids from back in the day how to groom themselves properly, behave in social situations, and basically be well-rounded, healthy individuals in every sense of the word. They're so interesting, not to mention completely surreal. It's a bit like opening a little window into the past that scares and amuses me in equal parts. I'm still reeling over the one that says no meal is as nutritious as it could be until it's slathered with butter. 

5. I think having a body is gross. I mean... really. It is. I honestly have to try not to think about the fact that I am indeed the not-so-proud owner of a bunch of squishy items like brains, and kidneys, and intestines, and ligaments. Plus, I find my body's natural urges -- for food, sex, sleep, and so forth -- to be supremely annoying most of the time. This is precisely the reason I want to be cremated when I die -- so the whole body thing can be truly and finally over with someday.

Oh, and just FYI? A couple of disclaimers in regards to a couple of the above statements.

1. My hair is indeed very real. Dyed? Yes. Fooled with so that I don't have to deal with my natural curls that I hate? Yes. Fake? Absolutely not. Each and every hair on my head actually grew out of my scalp inch by inch.

2. I am not the Antichrist to the best of my knowledge. Believe me when I say that if I were, I would very definitely not be able to resist bragging about it.

Yesterday I responded to a meme that was going around on Live Journal. What I was supposed to do was let a friend choose seven of the interests listed on my profile. Then I was to make a separate post explaining what they all mean and why I list them as interests. My answers turned out somewhat interesting and informative, so I thought I'd repost them here for those of you who might enjoy them. These are the interests my friend Ayoub chose for me, along with the explanations of what they mean to me. Maybe you'll learn something interesting about me you didn't know before.

1. Anthropology: I know I don't usually seem like it, but I'm actually kind of a science geek. I was especially so when I was a little girl. One of the first things I can remember becoming really interested in was prehistory... you know... dinosaurs, cavemen, and whatnot. I had books, puzzles, mobiles, action figures. You name it! If it had something to do with prehistoric times, I had it. This blossomed into a casual adult interest in anthropology. I like thinking about where humans came from and how it relates to where we are now.

I think I was the only art major who was taking classes about it in college just for fun. I actually took both physical and cultural anthropology up into advanced levels just to learn. The anthropology professor thought I was a trip. I had so many questions about everything, and I was really enthusiastic about all of it, but I think he really liked that about me. I guess you don't get too many anthropology students that are fascinated with prehistoric pottery bowls, or what the difference is between the Olmecs and the Toltecs.


2. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: My BPAL girls (and guys) are already nodding their heads knowingly. They get what this is all about, but I'll bet this interest looks damn strange to anyone who's never heard of it. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (or BPAL for short) is actually a small on-line perfume business, only this stuff is really more than just perfume. It honestly borders on art.

The girl that founded it comes up with these beautiful, creative blends that are based on all kinds of things -- literary characters, poetry, abstract concepts, and mythological deities to name just a few. What's more, they smell incredible. BPAL fans obsessively collect, horde, and trade bottles of the different blends -- especially the limited edition ones. It's a very fun, not to mention addictive, thing. With a few exceptions, BPAL has become pretty much the only type of perfume I wear anymore.


3. Europe: I was born in Europe and spent my early childhood there and I think it started something. As an adult, I'm obsessed with it -- especially Great Britain, and even more specifically, London. I love the food, culture, architecture, history. I'm pretty sure I'm one of those American people that sort of wishes they were British deep down... or not so deep down. The minute I have the kind of means to travel on a regular basis, I plan on spending extensive amounts of time there.

So how bad is the obsession really? I will even admit to sometimes listening to London radio stations just so I can know what's going on over there at a given time in minutiae -- how the traffic is, what's going on locally, what the weather's like -- dumb stuff like that. It makes me feel like I'm there or something, and it's relaxing somehow. A while back, I had a toolbar out for download that went with my website. If you're one of the handful of people that actually downloaded that and wondered why the hell the built-in radio came pre-tuned to a London radio station, that's why. It wasn't an accident. I just like doing random shit without explaining myself.


4. Gregorian Chant: Another obsession of mine is the medieval time period, and one of the areas of life I'm most fascinated with from that chunk of history is super-old-school religion. Those of you familiar with Gregorian chant know that it ties into that. If you don't actually know what it is, here's a chunk of explanation from Wikipedia.

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. This vast repertory of chants is the oldest music known as it is the first repertory to have been adequately notated in the 10th century. In general, the chants were learnt by the viva voce method, that is by following the given example orally, which took many years of experience in the Schola Cantorum. Gregorian chant originated in Monastic life, in which singing the 'Divine Service' nine times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants. In its long history Gregorian Chant has been subjected to many gradual changes and some reforms.

I used to have many CDs of monks performing the chants. I don't listen to it as often as I used to, but I find the sound of it to be incredibly soothing and beautiful -- especially for any sort of meditation or creative exercise.


5. Psychology: This is kind of another one of my little-known interests. Like anthropology, I studied psychology extensively in school. During the period of my life when I was actually still trying to make an attempt at sensible life decisions, I was even a psychology major. I was actually planning on becoming a psychologist at one point. Eventually though, I just decided it wasn't right for me and switched my major to art. Art will always be my number one passion, but I remain very interested in psychology to this day. I even still regularly read psychology periodicals and websites.


6. The Afterlife: Oddly enough, my interest in religion ties in directly to my interests in psychology and anthropology. Most of you know I'm not a religious person... at all. I suppose you could call me spiritual though. I don't really believe in God, angels, or demons in any conventional sense. What I do believe in is possibilities, hence the reason you'll usually hear me tell people I'm an agnostic if asked about my religious beliefs. The idea of an afterlife fascinates me. I often think about what, if anything, will happen to me when I die. Will I go to Heaven or Hell? Will I reincarnate? Will I vanish altogether? Whatever the answer really is, I love to consider the question.

I'm also fascinated with the different ideas regarding the afterlife as they relate to people's cultures and their personal background. I like pondering how those things all relate and influence each other. I like looking at art depicting the afterlife, and reading various literary interpretations of it. I'm obsessed with the concepts of sin and virtue. There's a reason I always list my number one favorite book as The Divine Comedy more often than not, and this is it.


7. Vintage Hair: I've briefly touched on my interest in the 40's and 50's before. I have an interest in so much that has to do with that era. I love the films, the culture, the values. Being a girl who has a strong interest in fashion and style, I naturally have an interest in things like the clothing, the make-up, and the hairstyles as well. I love that I know how to do pin curls, and finger waves, and anything else that might be considered "vintage", although I don't actually fix my hair like that for every day. I'm just too lazy. However, quite a few hairstyles from that day are among my favorites... especially any that relate to Old Hollywood. I watch and love old movies for the fashion and style ideas I absorb as much as I do for the movie itself!