Different (and not afraid to admit it)

Okay, so I posted this question on Yahoo! Answers earlier today before going to work, and within a few minutes I got this answer. Be warned, it’s long.

More so than just focusing on what the person (you in this case) is asking, I look for signs of maturity. You strike me as being in your early 20’s, possibly 22 or 23. So I’ll make that assumption, forgive me if I’m wrong, but at that age you should be able to keep your rooms clean. No man wants a girl who can’t keep her space clean. I know, my wife doesn’t do well with that task either. However, being retired, I tend to be the major house keeper.

If what your mother says comes off as screaming - either it’s because she’s raising her voice OR just the way you perceive it. I’ll assume she raises her voice. Do you know WHY people raise their voices? It’s because they feel like they are not being listened to. As for her taking it out on the dog, that just shows me she’s frustrated with something in her life, possibly it’s you.

As I said, by now you should be able to keep your space clean and you should also be self sufficient. However, in this time of financial uncertainty, I can understand that young people do often come back home. My baby girl, age 24, is supposed to come back home and go back to school (college). Maybe it’s the college thing that is keeping her away from coming back home, maybe it’s because she feels like I lecture her all the time. Well, parents aren’t perfect, and we make MANY mistakes. Just ask my girls.

Personally, my dad NEVER praised anything I did. However it wasn’t because he was dissatisfied with me, it was that he saw greater potential in me. He thought that if he PUSHED me I’d excel. Well, I did excel. PHD in Astrophysics and minored in Engineering. I tried hard to NEVER treat my girls the way he treated me, and I think it paid off; three of them have degrees in either business (like their mother) or engineering (like me :D ).

So you have choices: First, give her NO reason to complain. That doesn’t mean she won’t find something, but at least it will diminish her words. Second, CONSIDER what she’s saying. By understanding what is motivating her words you gain clarity into the things that drive her. Then you know what to avoid. For instance (example is absurd, but try and get the point) bouncing a red rubber ball on Tuesday in the pouring rain bothers her. GUESS WHAT! DON’T DO THAT ANYMORE. At least, not in her presence.

A third option is to move out. I understand this may be hard to do in this economy, but it IS doable IF you apply yourself hard enough to the task. However, no matter what you decide to do, try to show respect for your parents. Any SMART young man will look to see how you relate to authority. If you handle the authority of your parents poorly, you will likely handle HIS authority poorly too. He won’t want that.

So rather than being bothered by your mother, draw closer to her. She’ll yell less, you will hear her words less often as being yelled at you and you’ll have a better relationship and a better friend.

Good luck.

At first glance, this answer seems well written, no? I mean, it IS written by a guy who has been a father to five (undoubtedly grown-up) girls, so that alone should make him an authority on things like this, right?

Well, I read much deeper into this answer, and realised that this guy was making a whole bunch of assumptions that shouldn’t have been made in the first place. In the question I asked, I did not go into the fact that I work part-time and pay my own credit card bills. No, I just mentioned the situation with my mother, nothing more.

This may be a slow (and long) task, but I am going to dissect this answer, paragraph by paragraph, and tell you what I feel is wrong with what he was saying (assuming). 

Here goes!

PARAGRAPH #1:

More so than just focusing on what the person (you in this case) is asking, I look for signs of maturity. You strike me as being in your early 20’s, possibly 22 or 23. So I’ll make that assumption, forgive me if I’m wrong, but at that age you should be able to keep your rooms clean. No man wants a girl who can’t keep her space clean. I know, my wife doesn’t do well with that task either. However, being retired, I tend to be the major house keeper.

Well, he is right, I am 23, going on 24. Not going to deny that, obviously. But this is where he started going wrong…already, I can tell this guy is probably one of those fathers who thinks that women should be good at keeping things clean and that sort of thing. Well, seeing as I believe in equal rights for BOTH men and women, I think both sexes ought to be decent at keeping things clean, not just one. What this guy is basically saying is…”Since you can’t keep things clean, obviously no man is going to want to marry you.” Well, there are men that can’t keep their places clean, so don’t give me that BS. However, I do applaud him for keeping his house clean.

PARAGRAPH #2:

If what your mother says comes off as screaming - either it’s because she’s raising her voice OR just the way you perceive it. I’ll assume she raises her voice. Do you know WHY people raise their voices? It’s because they feel like they are not being listened to. As for her taking it out on the dog, that just shows me she’s frustrated with something in her life, possibly it’s you.

Well, I’ll agree with him there, people raise their voices because they’re not being listened to. But sometimes raising one’s voice doesn’t cut it…if anything one is just  continually losing their voice, and also there is the sad possibility that no one will listen to that one person, ever, just because they are raising their voice (or yelling) all the time. My trouble with this paragraph, though, is that he has the gall to assume (yet again) that when she takes her shit out on the dog, it’s because of me. Well, most of the time that’s not really true…because he doesn’t live at my house.

PARAGRAPH #3:

As I said, by now you should be able to keep your space clean and you should also be self sufficient. However, in this time of financial uncertainty, I can understand that young people do often come back home. My baby girl, age 24, is supposed to come back home and go back to school (college). Maybe it’s the college thing that is keeping her away from coming back home, maybe it’s because she feels like I lecture her all the time. Well, parents aren’t perfect, and we make MANY mistakes. Just ask my girls.

Um, yeah, I think we’ve covered the “keep your space clean” topic already…it’s not like I hardly bother, because I actually do. Since the beginning of this year (or maybe the end of last year, I can’t exactly recall right now) I have slaved my time getting rid of junk I don’t exactly need in my room to begin with, and it’s made a total difference. I even got rid of clothes I don’t wear anymore! But anyway, this is the paragraph where he starts to dote and brag about his children. (It gets worse, I think, in the next paragraph.) I do agree that parents aren’t perfect, though. NO ONE is perfect. Actually, maybe he should have mentioned that one bit. And about being self-sufficient…I handle all my own finances.

PARAGRAPH #4:

Personally, my dad NEVER praised anything I did. However it wasn’t because he was dissatisfied with me, it was that he saw greater potential in me. He thought that if he PUSHED me I’d excel. Well, I did excel. PHD in Astrophysics and minored in Engineering. I tried hard to NEVER treat my girls the way he treated me, and I think it paid off; three of them have degrees in either business (like their mother) or engineering (like me :D ).

Just tonight I read an article in the latest Teen Vogue about pushy parents, and while it’s all right for parents to encourage and that sort of thing, being pushy does have its downsides. The good of this paragraph: I am glad to hear that this guy got a PhD in Astrophysics and minored in Engineering, those are definitely not very easy fields to study in school. The bad of this paragraph: “They’ve got degrees in business or engineering!” If it’s anything I dislike, it’s a bragging parent. Am I supposed to feel all depressed and inadequate because they’ve got degrees in those fields? Also, I doubt that was hardly relevant to the question I posed, anyway.

PARAGRAPH #5:

So you have choices: First, give her NO reason to complain. That doesn’t mean she won’t find something, but at least it will diminish her words. Second, CONSIDER what she’s saying. By understanding what is motivating her words you gain clarity into the things that drive her. Then you know what to avoid. For instance (example is absurd, but try and get the point) bouncing a red rubber ball on Tuesday in the pouring rain bothers her. GUESS WHAT! DON’T DO THAT ANYMORE. At least, not in her presence.

The thing is, with my mother…I don’t like to start fights with her. Whenever I argue with her I end up getting more than a little bit stressed out. I have to admit it, but this paragraph bothered me the least.

PARAGRAPH #6:

A third option is to move out. I understand this may be hard to do in this economy, but it IS doable IF you apply yourself hard enough to the task. However, no matter what you decide to do, try to show respect for your parents. Any SMART young man will look to see how you relate to authority. If you handle the authority of your parents poorly, you will likely handle HIS authority poorly too. He won’t want that.

And the assumptions begin AGAIN. Where in the question did I say, “I hate my parents and therefore don’t respect them, they’re idiots”? NOWHERE. First off, I definitely DON’T hate my parents, and I DO respect them. In fact, I care about them very much. If they died the next day, you can bet I would be deeply, deeply upset. The problem with me is, though…there are times when I fail to show emotion, and because of them, some people assume (erroneously) that I don’t care about anything or anybody at all. This morning, my mom actually said that, and I cannot tell you how much it hurt. It hurt because it WASN’T true. I am a very senstive person, and that doesn’t exclude being sensitive about the feelings of others. Also, he brings men into the answer again…basically “If you can’t submit to a man’s authority, he won’t want to marry you.” I thought marriage was a partnership? Apparently not.

PARAGRAPH #7

So rather than being bothered by your mother, draw closer to her. She’ll yell less, you will hear her words less often as being yelled at you and you’ll have a better relationship and a better friend.

Somehow, that is easier said than done. I like how this guy just writes all that, assuming (pfft) that it’s going to be very easy to do that, and once I do do it, my mom and I are going to be BFFs for life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much willing to try to get along better with her, but it’s not going to happen just like that. It will, undoubtedly, take some time. I’m not against having a better relationship with my mother, but being friends is a whole different story. I’d rather my mother be a parent I can go to whenever I need help, rather than a best friend who gets hurt whenever I choose to hang out with others.

So anyway, that’s that. That took a while, but I think I covered most everything. I hope after reading this post that you yourself don’t think I’m being immature and such, because I really aimed for objectivity here.

I once read Alexandra Robbins’ infamous Pledged, and there is one part in there that is fresh in my mind right now. This one sorority alumna got into a car accident, and she sustained some injuries, so so she had to go to the hospital. News of her accident reached most everyone in the chapter she was active in during her college years, but weirdly enough, only a few sisters sent emails and visited her while she was in the hospital recuperating from her accident.The alumna later said of this experience that while she was in college, most of her sisters would have been by her side, but since graduation, that wasn’t really the case…but she also learnt who her true friends were, which is always an important lesson to learn.

Very recently, I think I learnt it. Like the aforementioned sorority alumna, I was also involved in a car accident, and fortunately I wasn’t hurt. I was driving on my way back from the Portofino (if you live in the Orlando area then you know what place I’m talking about), and was traveling with a bunch of other people whom I had met a while ago. We were in two cars, and I was driving this guy’s car. I accepted the responsibility. But his brakes were not willing to cooperate because simply put, they weren’t working at all. And therefore, I got into a collision with the other vehicle (which was being driven by the same guy). No one was hurt, but my dignity was. 

Funny how it takes for one incident to show whom one’s true friends are.

The guy I referred to before is a nice person, don’t get me wrong, but I think he could have been a little more sympathetic. After all, he is the one who taught me to drive. I know the situation was bleak, and he wanted to keep everyone’s spirits up, but there are times when one must be totally serious and rational, and car accidents fall into this category. I mean, what if I was actually killed? If that happened, then I am sure he would feel pretty bad…in fact, more than bad.

On the other hand, one of the other people in our group, an older lady, reacted more appropriately to the situation. She made sure everyone was all right, and I have to admit, I was touched. She behaved the way a true friend would behave in a situation like that, despite the fact she was most likely shaken as well. 

While waiting for the police to show up I called up G, told him what happened, and tried to get in touch with two other people, but they were unavailable. But the day after I got in touch with them, and one of them was even like, “You should have kept on calling me or texted me, I would have been there right away.” And I wished she was!

Sometimes it’s good that these things happen, because you learn more about people’s character. 

For most of my life, I’ve found it hard to rely on anyone, family included. As a result, I felt quite lonely, quite a bit. But that didn’t mean I didn’t have friends: I had a few. I also was acquainted with others in my high school graduating class, although I didn’t know them too well. Also, during those four years of high school, I used to wish I was popular, but I eventually realised that the grass wasn’t always greener on the other side. Of course, it’s always a good thing to have friends, but when you’re popular…it seems like you’re more concerned about making them rather than cultivating the friendships you already have. In other words…you can never know who your true friends are. And some cases, you find out when it’s too late…when you’re actually dead.

This afternoon I read a story (six years old) about a woman in London who was lying dead in her apartment for three years. And her body wasn’t discovered until people came to repossess her apartment, which I am sure made for a grisly discovery. (And obviously, they weren’t going to get their rent money.) The weird this about is that the woman was, by most accounts, bubbly, happy, and popular. I think that is rather ironic, actually. She had plenty of friends, even famous ones, but for those three years, none of her friends bothered to make sure she was doing okay, or even bothered to try to locate her at all, although her family tried their hardest. (Not saying most of her friends didn’t care…not at all. According to the story I read, some of them even expressed regret at not bothering to contact her.)

It seems hard to believe, at first…how can someone with plenty of friends go unnoticed (and virtually ignored) for three years? But it soon all becomes clear, the majority of her friendships were probably superficial than meaningful. And that is usually the problem with popularity…you know a lot of people, but do you really know them?

That is why it’s so important to know who your true friends are. True friends will never abandon you, or even eff with you. They are always by your side, no matter what. And if you disappear for years? Chances are, they will do anything in their power to find out where you are, make sure if you’re doing all right. They’re not going to leave you lying dead for three years in your apartment, and if they do find you dead, most likely it will be less than that even. But let’s hope not. You have so much to live for. True friends (and friendships) included.

She was a model student and a star athlete – an honest young woman in her final year at a private Christian high school, The Master’s School, in Connecticut.

But when school administrators asked her about her sexual orientation, she answered courageously and honestly that she is a lesbian.

And then those same administrators told her to withdraw or she would be kicked out.

When I read this, I wondered to myself, “Why are school administrators asking about their students’ sexual orientation in the first place?” When you think about it, that sort of question is not only unnecessary, but also unimportant. They should be worrying more about the well-being of the students at the school, not about their sexual orientation. If a school administrator asked me that question, honestly, I would have refused to answer. I would be like, “I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

I’m reading an article on the whole fiasco as I’m writing this. The school’s motto is “Veritas Vos Liberabit”, which translates to “The truth will set you free.” Well, while I would have done something else if I were in her shoes, she was being honest about her sexual orientation (which is always a good thing), but apparently it was a bitter pill for the school administrators to swallow. In the end she chose to withdraw (I probably would have, too) because she didn’t want the school to look bad, but this was a wise choice on her part because who would want to go to a school where you may face emotional abuse just because of your sexual orientation? No one, obviously.

My overall take on this? I think she acted honourably and gracefully. As for the school, they just lost an amazing student and student athlete just because of bigotry, and I am sure that this will bite them back in the butt. Actions do have consequences. And in a place like that, I doubt I would bother to be honest with those administrators anyway. 

Sexual orientation does NOT define a person’s personality; well, it may, sometimes, but not most of the time. If I came across this girl and wasn’t told about her sexual orientation, most likely I would have liked and respected her as a person, and even if someone mentioned it I still would have liked and respected her. It doesn’t matter. 

Apparently she was questioned because an incident where she went on a class trip with several other students and they pretended to be married and pretty much held hands. But holding hands isn’t unusual for same-sex friends at the school, and it seemed pretty harmless. 

A few links to the story are below, if you want to read up on it:

http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-campbell-rachel-0907-20110907,0,2185421.column

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/connecticut-christian-school-kicks-12th-grader-out-for-being-a-lesbian/discrimination/2011/09/08/26618

So I went to the DMV yesterday morning…early, that is, I wasn’t about to take a huge chance of having to wait hours. And as it turned out, I didn’t have to wait that long, because it wasn’t that busy, at least when I got there. What happened was, I checked in, showed them what I needed to show them, waited for my number to be called, got called, then waited in line, got to a counter, took a vision test, and took my driving test. I did better than I thought I would do on the driving test, though I was shaking for a bit during it all. Everything went okay, which is always a great thing.

Starting yesterday, I am officially a licenced driver, and after years of having a learners permit (don’t ask, lol), this accomplishment is a big deal. Of course, I have to go on my dad’s car insurance now, which can be considered a financial downside, but other than that, I am really happy about now having my licence. It is time, when you really think about it. But things happen when they are meant to happen.

That said, I’m not too sure whether or not this begins a new chapter in my life. Traditionally, something huge, maybe dramatic, and profound is supposed to inaugurate a new chapter (or more) in someone’s life. I guess that if I feel somewhat grown up about now having earned the privilege to drive, that could be considered profound and huge. 

In other news, I’ve officially come up with the name for my latest story: The Doll. It makes sense, because, well…I can’t spill too much yet since I am still writing it and technically not done yet, and plus, at least to me, it looks too good to spoil. So I’ll wait until it’s about finished. Of course, there are still some edits that do need to be made, obviously.

Venturing further into the world of short stories, I worked a bit more on mine today shortly after posting again to my thread on the Writers Magazine forum. After twenty something views someone finally posted a comment…but not the kind I was expecting:

“I’d like to see more before I comment.”

Well, that is fine. But then again, the person who said this should have waited until I posted more. And I did post more, warning whoever comes across my thread that that is all I have done so far. Well up to that point, anyway, I’ve written a bit more since posting.

But being honest, the forum on the Writers Magazine is really quite slow. I used to post to writing communities before, like FictionPost (I think that’s the name, anyway), and even that community was far more active than the one on Writers Magazine. I saw other posts there that had 40-something views and zero comments. Which I guess are worse than mine. Not saying my writing is bad, at least.

I think I’m going to make my way back to FictionPost and resume posting stuff on there. I would get better critiques, and also, I wouldn’t get comments like, “Post more, I need to see more before I comment.” Well, this story I am writing currently is a short story, and I did post the beginning of it. Of course you would have to see more before making a solid critique of my work. Next time on the Writers forum, I should post every single chapter I’ve done for one of my WIP novels and see how they will critique them. Because they are long…

So, in other news, it looks like I might be taking my driving test for the Class E licence tomorrow…when I’m not sure because I’m going in as a walk-in. We’ll see how that goes…I’m not always so patient. I’m nervous, but I also feel very much ready. Here goes!

I should know.

For the past few days I’ve been brainstorming (or trying to brainstorm) possible ideas for short stories, but the ideas I came up with are more appropriate for either novels or novellas, therefore not leaving any for short stories at all.

I have to admit, writing short stories is the bane of my existence as a (future) writer. I’m perfectly fine with novels, poetry, and even novellas (I’m starting to realise) but short stories are a whole different story, no pun intended. It seems like the literary ideas I come up with would drag on longer than a short story is typically supposed to be, which is like 10,000 words, I think. Not that that is a bad thing, novels do allow things to develop at a more or less steady pace than short stories, which I guess is one reason that I’ve never written much in the first place. 

Short stories are seen as a middle ground for writers but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) I seem to lack that “middle ground”. It’s either novels and/or poetry and there is nothing between the two, not even what they call “flash fiction”. Yesterday I went on Google and decided to hunt up all the short story writing help I could find. I found TONS, but what was the best help was actually reading short stories. There is this great website, East of the Web, that has a whole lot of fiction, and I highly suggest it to anyone that has trouble coming up with something to write, or just anyone who loves to read fiction, basically. There is mostly something for everyone there. But anyway, I went onto that site and read the most short stories I could, and I think it really helped. Why? Because I just started a short story of my own last night. Amazing, isn’t it? After days of trying to figure this whole thing out I actually managed to pick it apart and accomplished it yesterday. I won’t say what the story is about but it is turning out to be quite interesting. At least, for me.

But I’m not too proud of myself yet, because it is only one story, and I have yet to learn all that I can about writing short stories. So, I’m still trying to establish my “middle ground” as a writer.

This was a short post, but there isn’t too much one can say about having the apparently inability to establish a writer’s “middle ground”. 

Let’s just say, yesterday was a very, very dramatic day. I even broke out the remaining wine I had stashed away in a Rue La La box, that’s how bad it was. (And guzzled it down straight from the bottle, no glasses were even used.)

By now, if you’ve been keeping track of my posts on here (or most of them), you probably think that I am a very melodramatic person, with nothing happy to report. Well, that is true…but only somewhat. Truth be told, I have bad days, then good days, then bad days. One day I’ll be happy as a clam, and the other…well, I’ll just say I’m emotionally fucked up. It’s like a merry-go-round sometimes. So much so at times, that I’ve come to the self-made conclusion that I suffer from depression.

Of course, I am not a certified therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, but having majored in Psychology (oh, the irony) I am more than familiar with the warning signs and red flags of depression. To be more accurate, I would say that depression has afflicted me for quite a few years, even before I started college. It all started with my best friend. We went to school together, up until the time it came for us to go off to university. As we survived the years of high school together, I noticed that guys were more attracted to her than to me, and whenever she started dating someone, she would be off like a pop, focusing totally on that one guy and not so much on her friends. You know. But anyway, her success in the dating world (or rather, high school dating world) made me quite insecure and jealous. I started to think I wasn’t good enough, let alone attractive enough for anyone. I felt I wasn’t attention-inducing, and it all aggravated me, as you can imagine. 

That probably doesn’t sound shocking enough. By now you are probably saying or thinking, “Every schoolgirl goes through that period of uncertainty, that story isn’t exactly special enough.” Well, I think it is certainly a special case, as it ebbed swiftly into depression. I genuinely began to feel insecure about myself and I slowly started to develop poor body image, although that wouldn’t actually attack me until years later. I would be in college when that happened.

Once I graduated from high school and began attending university, I started to starve myself. It wasn’t deliberate at first…whenever I had classes all day, I would forget about eating lunch due to money. Or, I would not be interested in eating midday at all. It was usually either one of those. If my parents (especially my mother) asked what I ate that day, I would just say, “Salad.” Of course, this process was gradual, as there would be times that I would actually eat something. Also, my depression was evolving. In high school I lamented about not getting a boyfriend, but my beginnings in college were marked by getting cut at sorority rush (or recruitment I should say), as well as a slight falling out with one of my friends from high school. So, it is safe to assume that all those things made things even more unstable. I did manage to get over the sorority rush stuff though, but it took quite a while. And as for the falling out with my friend that was short lived, we resumed hanging out after the fall semester began. A bit too much I might add as my grades did suffer a little.

As the semesters waned on I found that whenever I was upset, I did not like to eat at all. You know how there are people who eat because they’re upset? Well, I was definitely not one of those people, because I absolutely loathed eating whenever I was upset, or say, depressed. I even didn’t eat that much last night, it was all forced if I did. Also, being single got under my skin again, as well as dealing with guys who did not really care for me in the long run. I think that really hurt the most than being single. I also dealt with people who turned out to be fake (that sort of thing comes with being in a sorority, I probably should have disowned her by now), the stress that is usually affiliated with grad school, and just feeling inadequate, insecure, and sometimes even jealous. All in all, my depression was still there. There was enough to fuel the fire. 

You’re probably asking, “Why didn’t you get help?” Well, I did go to counseling, quite a lot, I might add. I was even prescribed anti-depressants, which one of my friends said was good for me, because I did appear to be more cheerful. I mean, actually cheerful. That usually doesn’t happen. The counseling did help quite a bit, I am not going to lie about that, and it was in a counseling session that I finally admitted I had an eating disorder. Or disordered eating. It is pretty much the same thing. Plus, the counseling was free to students, which was why I considered it. No way in hell I was going to pay like $50 per session.

College ended, and for starting off on the wrong foot, academic wise, things actually turned out nicely, as I wound up being on the Dean’s List twice in a row (basically my whole senior year), and even got a decent Psychology GPA. But my mental health was far from healed, and now, things aren’t that different. Since my dad’s stroke, I think that my mental health has been even more exacerbated. I still feel worthless at times, at times I wind up getting really jealous of most (but not all) people I know who are married or engaged, I have a strong fear of getting fat, and one can say I am a perfectionist. I also have problems with anxiety. And socially, it is hard to be not a wallflower when you are worried what others may think of you. Also, my family is also to blame. I love them all, but there have been times when they have been less than helpful. I remember when I was still in college, my dad actually said to me, “You’re making everyone depressed when you’re depressed.” Well, thanks, Dad. (How about getting me help, if you’re really so depressed?) And this whole stroke thing? I have been suffering from depression for years, but then he gets this stroke, and all of a sudden it’s like everyone is paying attention to him. While in all my years of dealing with low self-esteem and feeling worthless, I have gotten less than the amount of attention he is getting, and it burns me up to be honest. I know that strokes are a BIG deal, and they can disable you, but depression is just as evil and horrible as strokes are. Not everyone sees that though, unfortunately. So I find that not discussing my problems so much, especially to family, is better than discussing it at all. I guess my dad’s comment got to me after all. I put on this fake smile and pretend like nothing is going on, when in fact the opposite is true.

So, that is my story. Last night was really bad, and I don’t think it made my mental health better. The drinking, too. I forgot to add…about the starving myself bit, I have to say that my family had something to do with it too. I remember my mum (she still kind of does this sometimes) watching as I ate sugary stuff and crap like that and her saying, “You’re going to get fat.” No lie.

I copied and pasted this from the Lauren Conrad site. And yes, it’s all my handiwork. I also added some stuff.

1. Favorite TV show? I haven’t watched too much television in a while…but I’ve found that watching The Office tends to chill me out, especially after a hard day.
2. Song I can’t stop listening to is…  Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People.
3. Red or nude lips? It depends, really.
4. Facebook or Twitter? Either…I like to check in and see how everyone else is doing (especially if I’m busy) and also like to write a very short note now and then.
5. Gold or silver? I’m a fan of Tiffany…so sterling silver.
6. Favorite fashion designer? (or clothing line)  LC by Lauren Conrad and Jack Wills for my always existing British fix.
7. Any recent travels?  The most recent trip I took was to Aruba…not my first choice. I’m planning to go back to London later this year.
8. Makeup you can’t live without?  Does lip balm count?
9. Favorite childhood TV show? Sailor Moon and Pokemon, hah.
10. Straight, curly or wavy hair? Straight. 
11. What were you doing a year ago from now? Starting my current job. 
12. If you could live in any era, what would it be? The 1960s.
13. Where are you from? Bronx, New York.
14. Favorite food? Chocolate!
15. Makeup or fashion?  Both.
16. Movie you saw most recently? Captain America…not too bad.
17. Nickname? My mum used to call me Pumpkin.
18. I’m secretly terrified of… Gaining weight and spiders. Also, failure. I admit it.
19. Heels or flats? Depends.
20. Favorite blog on LaurenConrad.com so far? Anything relating to beauty and fashion.