surprises

Surprises

some stuff you may not have known about me

        The other day in creative writing class, we were talking about music (or something, I don't specifically remember what lead into it), but in any case, somehow the question arose of what I was listening to. I am in the habit of listening to one or the other of two stations on "I heart radio", which is an online radio-listening-to website that just happens to be the website used by both of my favorite radio stations (I've actually never gone to the "I heart radio" website itself, I just went to both of these radio stations' websites and clicked on the "listen live online" button at one point or another, and both happened to link me to the "I heart radio" sites for their station, and so those are what I've bookmarked for listening) and anyways it's really nifty because I can still listen to my radio station from Virginia, or I can listen to the radio station closer to here that's actually out of Minnesota and that I can get in on the non-internet-based radio in my bedroom when the wind's just right but only then (suddenly I'm remembering Green Acres when the neighbors tell them that they can hear every word they're saying from miles away when the wind's just right) but anyways, I like to listen to these stations because they're classic rock stations, and that surprised my creative writing peeps. At the time they asked, I was listening to my Virginia station, and "Rooster" by Alice in Chains happened to be on. So, I told them that's what I was listening to. Then I went ahead and showed them by unplugging my headphones and turning up my computer volume, because Creative Writing is one of those fun classes where it's alright if you do things like that once in a while. Everyone was, like, in shock. I think they were baffled. I mean, I guess it is kind of a rather dark-ish song, but it still sort of surprised me that they were so surprised. But it was so much fun to just completely shock the majority of my Creative Writing class like that, to have them all practically gawking at me. It was fun; I like when I can surprise people with details about myself. And so, in the interest of having fun surprising people, I've decided to do this blog post about things about me that might surprise people like this. I am surprisingly complex. Of course, everyone's quite complex when you really get down to it, but I guess I seem exceptionally complex to me, probably mostly because I'm more familiar with my own complexities than I am with anyone else's. 

        I was thinking about doing a "ten things about me that would surprise you" thing, but I don't want to restrict the number of things like that when I don't even know what my things are going to be yet, and also it's getting late and I doubt I have enough time to really explain ten surprising things about myself. 

1. I listen to classic rock. I didn't always, when I was younger. I used to listen to pop and old Radio Disney music, back before they started manufacturing actor/singer celebrities, back when they played stuff like the Black Eyed Peas and Kelly Clarkson. Now I really feel like an old person, that my childhood stuff is now so old and I'm here nostalgia-ing about it. Well, reminiscing would probably be a better way to say that. But nostalgia-ing sounds cooler. But anyways, in those days, I also occasionally listened to my parents' music, which was predominantly classic rock. And one day it hit me: this stuff is so epic, and it gets stuck in my head, and I really like it! And so I fell in love with classic rock. There are other reasons, but with music, it's mostly just an intuitive feeling that you get from the music that makes you love it, and that's why it's one of those things that's so hard to explain. While I've been writing this blog post, I've been listening to my Virginia classic rock station, and the songs that have played include: Pearl Jam's "I'm Still Alive", which I can sing mostly by heart, "Werewolves of London", which is splendidly tongue-in-cheek and quite amusing when you listen to the lyrics, "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, "Burnin' for You" by Blue Oyster Cult, "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty (who is my first classic rock love and the one who really drew me to the genre for his unique, quirky-sounding music and voice), "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith (which, we rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster in Disneyland/world/I get them mixed up and anyways it was epic), "Carry on my Wayward Sons" by Kansas, "Walk" by the Foo Fighters, and "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring, just for a good sampling of the music I listen to. That's just what's been playing whilst I've been blogging. I can sing most of those songs by heart and they're actually all really good examples. Oh, and for surprising facts, I also headbang and toss my hair wildly about. I get into my music, though people might not think it. That's more of an at-home kind of thing than an in-creative-writing thing, though I did do it during my "don't be boring" performance. 

2. I collect American Girl Dolls. I touched on this in my Chicago blog post. I think it's kind of a fun contrast to the above image of me as a hard-rocking head-banging classic rocker to put this here. I'm running out of time to go into detail, but suffice to say, I am not a stereotype. Certain stereotypes may more or less apply to me, but I don't think there's any stereotype that covers classic rock, american girl dolls, and book nerd-hood, all in one, not to mention the many other sides of me. Except perhaps insanity, in which case see number six, but, you know. 

3. My bedroom is not now and has never yet been painted purple. As you may have guessed from the title and theme of my blog, I'm sort of renowned for my deep love of the color purple, which is indeed an awesome and amazing color. Thus, many presume that walking into my bedroom would be like plunging into a bottomless sea of violet and lavender. Surprisingly, it is not. My bedspread is often (though not always) purple but my walls have not yet been. 

4. I have both danced and played soccer, and I love both. This came up when we were talking about gender roles in literature. I may not be very athletic, but at least I'm somewhat versatile.

5. I crochet my earphones (and likewise spin my hair) This was mentioned in creative writing the same day of the classic rock disscusion. My teacher overheard my answering to someone asking me about my earphones, and she just said, "I'm really going to miss you." :)

6. I'm insane 8D

7. I am the Queen of a Mysterious Magical Lande beyond the violet mist. I mean, you're reading this, so you must read my blog, to some extent. See my post on "Coronation" for further details.

        Welcome to the crazy, surprising world of the Queen of the Lande beyond the violet mist ;)