Ginger Ale – Ale for Gingers

I've been tagged!  I have never been so glad in my life to be tagged.  I wanted to write something on my blog but had nothing to say and then – WHAM!  I was going through my blog list and found this!

I was tagged by Rose at The Golden Road and I must confess I'm not sure what the "SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS AWARD" is... but maybe it has something to do with the sisterhood of the traveling pants???  I don't know; I'm afraid I'm ignorant of such things.  But I'm happy to receive it in any case.

Rules

*Acknowledge the person who passed the award to you and provide their link.
*Include the award logo on your blog.
*Answer the ten questions posted below.
*Make up your own ten questions for the next people.
*Nominate blogs and link those you have especially enjoyed reading. The number you can select is up to you.
*Notify each individual that you have nominated them.

(Thank you, somebody, for allowing me to chose the number of blogs....)

So now I have to answer the following questions, and I am so honored!  She is so good at asking questions:

1.  What is your favourite accent? (British, Irish, Scottish, etc.)

That is an incredibly hard question to answer, but I think I have to go with Scottish.  I actually have ancestry from all three, so I'm entitled to pick any which one of them that I chose.  ...I figure.
2.  Your house is on fire; you have 60 seconds.  What is the one thing that you grab? (Yes, I stole this question from the movie Leap Year.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  It is marvelous.)

My computer?  Or maybe my flash drive.  Nothing against the Bible, Rosary, pictures, pillows, or stuffed animals or anything sentimental – but life would suck if I didn't have either one of those two things – my homework is there.
3.  You are taking a ramble through the woods heedless of time or place.   Suddenly, you find yourself miserably lost.  What do you do?  (Hysteria is a acceptable option.)

I would begin to panic – not gonna lie, because this has happened to me before only I wasn't miserably lost, only slightly.  But then I would calm my panic because I'm more prone to panic attacks lately and that wouldn't be a good idea in the middle of the woods.  Then I would pick a direction, based on the sun, and walk that way.
4.  What is your worst fear?

My worst fear is getting left behind, being forgotten.  When all is said and done, I'm not afraid of snakes, bees, or even spiders (although spiders come close...) – I'm afraid of being forgotten and left out by everyone or anyone that I love.
5.  If you could instantaneously be fluent in one language, which would it be?

A tough one.  I really want to speak Latin fluently for the heck of it.  But Italian would be nice.  But then, my grandmother speaks German and would be really impressed... plus it could come in handy when I go to Europe.
6.  Would you rather have plain vanilla/chocolate ice cream or a sundae with all the toppings?

Another tough one!  But I think I'm going to say a sundae, but I won't finish it!
7.  Would you rather watch a scary movie while at home alone or ride the largest roller coaster in the world?

Ride the largest roller coaster in the world.  Duh.
8.  You're stranded on an island for a year.  Choose one fictional character to have on the island with you.

Peter Pan.
9.  What is one of the most thrilling things you have ever done?

Driving comes pretty darn close.  Scary roller coasters is another.  Hanging with friends trumps all.  ...I guess I've lived a pretty boring life, what can I say?
10.  You are swimming with a group of friends when a splashing fight breaks out, describe your methods of warfare and survival.

Splash like crazy, laugh like no one's gonna get hurt, and then tackle the archenemy.

I'm gonna tag:

Kathleen at The Messy Desk of Me

Maggie at A Window on the West

Una Mariah at Petticoats and Muckboots

The Mad Elvish Poet (if, indeed, that's all I can call you) at The Thoughts of the Mad Elvish Poet

So now my own ten questions for these lovely ladies:

I. Quick, name a movie.

II. You get married and have a girl – what kind of world are you living in and what will you call her?  Why and what does it mean?

III.  You also have a boy – what will you call him?  Why and what does it mean?

IV.  What mythical creature do you think most represents you?

V.  Quick, name one to three random facts about yourself. (For example, I get weird cravings for ginger ale.)

VI.  When you hear "British," you think ________.

VII.  What is the title of the book nearest you right now?

VIII.  What is one brilliant thing that happened to you in the last twenty-four hours?

IX.  Have you ever been licked by a cat?

X.  What is the state of your sock drawer?

And by the way, I remember one time when I did this, and obviously you people (not necessarily the four people above – I don't actually remember who) had no fun with this at all.  Please, be creative.  Have fun with it.  I'm asking you these questions because I know you have imaginations that can have a stark-raving-mad time with this.  (So don't you dare say, "Where we'll live and what we name our children, if God wills we have any, will be up to the both of us...."  Nobody wants theology, we want fantasy.)

Oh yeah, and fun fact: ginger ale was invented expressly for gingers.  ...True story.

Okay, not really,

~Meggy

The Importance of Keeping a Diary

Do you keep a journal?  I do.  I collect journals, actually.  I usually have a hard time walking away from a journal display without buying one.  Like with anything else, I'm picky about my journals – size, features, graphics, etc.  But the bookstore here has a phenomenal selection.  Every time I go in there I want to buy one!!!  But I don't.  Although I gave in once.  Even though I didn't need it and I don't really use it.  But it's really cute.

Anyway, I have kept a journal for as long as I can remember, and I have a small collection of dairies back home that I go through sometimes.  ...Oh gosh.  If ever I doubt that there's a God, I just have to pick up one of those dairies and skim through them.  Not because they're filled with accounts of miracles or visions; it's because it reminds me where I've been.  And where I've come.  And how.

Sometimes I just blush tomato red when I read them, and I've considered burning them or parts of them.  And maybe I should.  Some would say that it would be symbolic of letting go of the past.  For me, it reminds me not to make those same stupid mistakes again.  I read something that I, have since, decided I am not proud of; but sometimes I realize that I'm doing it again.  It's a reality check; but not always in a negative way.  Sometimes I come across an inspiring insight that I wrote once upon a time – and I don't even remember it.  Or I realize that I've forgotten to look at life through those rosier-colored lenses.  It's definitely a reality check.  Not everything you learn sticks with you.

A journal also allows you to organize in an unorganized manner the thoughts that are going on in your head so that you can decide whether and how you'll share those thoughts with someone else – and the best part?  No one will judge you on your grammer, logic, or feelings.  Unless you have a mother that, for some reason, feels she has the right to read your journal if she finds it.  I know someone (a naive someone) who advised me to keep a journal but to keep it hidden, because she always read her daughter's journal when she came across it.  She also advised I burn my used journals, so you can see how much I value her opinion....  I was rather shocked when I heard that she read her daughter's journal – that just seemed so wrong.  But everyone is different I guess, and I've since wondered if someone would read my journal if I left it out – sometimes I left it out so that people could read it (if I was proud of what I wrote or was feeling vengeful; as far as I know, no one ever did read it. They would probably have let me know if they had been through my journal....).

Writing things in a journal, I've noticed, almost justifies you to yourself.  It's written down – in this nifty little book – therefore, it's real; it's valid; it's important.  It doesn't mean that you are delusional and egotistical – you usually can't be because you've got nothing to hide in a journal so you end up telling the truth.  But when you write down your feelings, it makes you feel better because what you're feeling is now based on a semi-logical train of thought.  You hope.  Not always, but sometimes.  I know that when I'm depressed, it rarely helps to write about it, because it's illogical to go on being depressed but there's nothing I can do to change it.

And so there you go.  My thoughts on journals in case you were wondering.  And I'm sure you were – you were probably chomping at the bit screaming, "HOW DOES MEGGY FEEL ABOUT JOURNALS?!?!  I MUST KNNNOOOOOW!"  Yeah, well, now you do.

...And yes, I said nifty.

Yikes.

~Meggy

Valentine's Day