After Lauren

After Lauren...

SEVEN THINGS YOU LOVE

- Music, music, and MORE music! I can't get enough of the stuff. And I can't get people who DO get enough/don't listen to as much music as I do;
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I am a certified grammar geek!
- Language(s) in general. I love the power of the written/spoken word. The opportunities for expression are endless--especially when you don't limit yourself to a single language. True, there are still some things that cannot be articulated and there are also endless opportunities for MIScommunication, but I don't think I'd have it any other way. It helps you to appreciate the instances where language really gets it right;
- Politics. The inner workings of government never cease to fascinate/frustrate me. Plus, the idealist/activist in me believes that the only way to facilitate real change in society is know, understand and work within the existing political system;
- Water. To drink, to swim in (!) and to go boating across.;
- Photography, but especially black and white photography; and
- Shopping for housewares (kitchen gadgetry in particular). Even as a child, I'd flip through Sears catalogues and mark furnishings and appliances I'd love to own.


SEVEN THINGS YOU HATE

- I'm a little more extreme than Lauren in that I abhor poor grammar, spelling and punctuation. Especially when the errors are committed by myself!
- Apathy and ignorance;
- The refusal to attempt to engage with art and literature. No one "gets" everything all the time, but at least be willing to go beyond the surface;
- Close-mindedness and elitism;
- Humidity;
- Allergies; and
- Nausea.


SEVEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT YOU

- Feet bother me. I don't particularly like my own (despite the fact that they're not gnarled, but rather smooth and well-shaped) even. Feet serve a purpose and I'm fine with that. Just so long as that purpose remains far away from my hands and face;
- I secretly enjoy reading that insipid fashion mag, Vogue. I appreciate fashion as a legitmate art form even if my own clothes are rarely in style;
- I am a very demonstrative, touchy-feely person. I love the little outward signs of affection and firmly believe that you can never have enough hugs and cuddles!
- I love seafood;
- Despite (or maybe because of?!) all of the bitter-sounding ranting I do, I'm actually a very happy, optimistic, well-adjusted person;
- I still go through really shitty periods when I'm generally miserable, though. Mind you, I do still manage to see a light at the end of the tunnel; and
- I adore a really good debate with another articulate, well-informed individual.


SEVEN THINGS YOU DO WELL

- I can act/sing pretty darn well. For years I had intended to be an actress, but when it came down to it, I wasn't sure if I loved theatre because I genuinely loved theatre or if I loved theatre because it provided an escape. I did want to lose my love of performing; I was far too afraid that acting would become just another job for me. But who knows? I may end up doing more theatre yet;
- Write;
- Debate;
- I procrastinate VERY well;
- I'm a pretty damn good daydreamer, too. I have a very rich imagination. So rich that I imagine problems in my waking life. But I'm working on that;
- I'd like to think that I'm a good, compassionate listener; and
- I know I'm a good conversationalist.


SEVEN THINGS YOU DON’T DO WELL

- I'm REALLY bad at any card game you can name;
- I’m almost as bad at most board games;
- While I forgive readily, I rarely forget;
- I find it hard to forgive myself for the mistakes I make;
- I don't "roll with the punches" terribly well, and I take stupid things personally;
- I don't always stand up for myself in the ways that I deserve. I tend to give the people who regularly hurt me far too many chances; and
- I tend to find it hard to shut up and just enjoy the silence (though, when I do, I find I really do enjoy it.)


SEVEN FAVOURITE SONGS (Okay, so there are more than seven. I can't help myself!)

- "The Magnificent Seven", "Train in Vain" and "London Calling" by The Clash;
- "Fever Dream", "Cinder and Smoke", "My Lady's House" and "Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song)" by Iron & Wine;
- "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" and "Alabama" by Neil Young;
- "Ny Batteri" by Sigur Ros;
- "Blue" and "All I Really Want" by Joni Mitchell;
- "Not for All My Little Words" by the Magnetic Feilds;
- "A Rush of Blood to the Head", "Amsterdam", "White Shadows" and "Twisted Logic" by Coldplay; and
- "Until We Die" by Chantal Kreviazuk. A VERY new favourite.


SEVEN ALBUMS YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT (How could I possibly reduce any music-related list to only SEVEN favourites?)

- any Coldplay or Radiohead album;
- any Iron & Wine album or EP;
- 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Feilds;
- Harvest by Neil Young;
- Blue by Joni Mitchell;
- Rumours by Fleetwood Mac; and
- both Meat is Murder and The Queen is Dead by The Smiths.


SEVEN FAVOURITE BOOKS

- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy;
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte;
- Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery;
- The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien;
- Mrs Dalloway and A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf;
- Cassandra by Christa Wolf; and
- The Giver by Lois Lowry.


SEVEN FAVOURITE POEMS (More. I see a theme here.)

- "The Woman in this Poem" and "A Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf" by Bronwen Wallace;
- "The Double Voice" by Margaret Atwood;
- "Seed Catalogue" by Robert Kroetsch;
- "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot;
- "Portrait of the Poet as Landscape" by A.M. Klein;
- "La bufera", "Personae separatae" and "Giorno e notte" by Eugenio Montale;
- "Pastel: Masks and Faces" by Arthur Symons;
- "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath; and
- "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by e.e. cummings.


SEVEN FAVOURITE MOVIES

- Annie Hall;
- The Hours;
- Elizabeth;
- Grand Hotel;
- Breakfast at Tiffany's;
- The Three Faces of Eve; and
- Moonstruck.


SEVEN FAVOURITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

- Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead (Jude the Obscure);
- Martha (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?);
- Coraline (Neil Gaiman's Coraline);
- Loretta Castorini (Moonstruck);
- Holly Golightly (Brekfast at Tiffany's); and
- Emily Byrd Starr (L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest.)