Here are the answers to the questions I’ve been asked so far. These were posted both at my old blog site and my new one, so I’ve combined all the questions into one post.
Jen asked: what do you consider your greatest talents? how deep does your creative side run??
Sure Jen, stump me on the first question. I’m not really sure what I would consider my greatest talents. If asked that question a few years ago, my answer would have been my intelligence. I was always a straight-A student and I thought I was pretty darn smart. Then I realized that being smart really wouldn’t get my anywhere so now I’m not so sure, plus I don’t feel so smart anymore. My other talents that I consider to be great are my ability to play music (when I apply myself) and my creativity.
I have a creative side that I have been trying to explore more and more over the last few years. I’m not creative in that I’m a really great artist or writer or anything specific. But, I do have a creative side that I can apply to most anything I do. My main focus of creativity recently has been designing web pages. I love creating web pages because I can use my creative side to make the page look pretty and I get to use my brain in figuring out the code to make it all work right. If I could only get a few hours to myself I could start doing that again!
El Santo asked: What is in your CD’s players right now? What is the best concert you ever saw? The best and worst places you ever lived, and why?
You will probably laugh, but right now in my cd player is Carrie Underwood-Some Hearts. A friend loaned me a copy and I kinda dig it. She was my favorite American Idol from last season. There are a couple of songs on there that hit close to home and make me all emotional, which is just the way I like it.
The best concert I’ve ever seen? That’s such a hard question because I’ve seen so many. Can I give a list? Well, I’m going to anyway.
Dave Matthews Band (from the front row)
Pearl Jam (either the first KC show or Knoxville, it’s a toss up)
Alabama (the Farewell Tour)
Sarah McLachlan (the first time I saw her in Omaha)
Shinedown/Silvertide (first time I saw them at a small club in KC)
Tom Petty (first real concert without parents, plus a special someone surprised me with tickets which made it even better)
The best place I ever lived was a small town in northern Missouri. In my opinion, I had the best 3 years of my life there. I met my first real boyfriend, my first husband, and my lifelong best friend there. It was also the first place that I ever felt like I fit in.
The worst place I ever lived was in a suburb of KC, where I moved after that small town in northern Missouri. I had to leave all of my friends and the love of my life behind. The school I attended was very racially biased (not toward my race) and I fell into probably the deepest depression I have ever been in. This is also where I lived when my family started falling apart which was pretty hard to deal with.
Almsthvn asked: How did you come to choose your nickname? What is hard to imagine? Who is your favorite aunt/uncle and why?
The nickname Hardtoimagine came from the song title Hard To Imagine by Pearl Jam. When I was setting up my first blog I has just purchased the Lost Dogs cd and had it in constant rotation in my cd player. The line in the song “things were different then, all is different now, i tried to explain, somehow…” reminds me of a certain period in my life so Hardtoimagine was born. Here are the rest of the lyrics if you are curious:
paint a picture, using only gray
light your pillow, lay back, watch the flames
i’ll tell a story, no one would listen that long
it’s hard to imagine, it’s hard to imagine…
tear into yourself, count tales on your arm
ah the beating, tickin’ like a bomb
after having seen all that they saw
it’s hard to imagine, it’s hard to imagine…
things were different then, all is different now
i tried to explain, somehow…
things were different then, all is different now
i tried to explain, somehow…
things were different then, all is different now
i tried to explain, i hope this works somehow…
things were different then, all is different now
i tried to explain, oh, somehow…
ooh…oh…oh…
When I was a kid, my favorite Aunt & Uncle (my dad’s brother) were the ones that lived in Virginia. They would come to visit every summer and always brought us presents when they came. When they were here we would always do fun stuff like go to baseball games and amusement parks so for me that translated into them being my favorites.
Now that I’m older (and wiser) my favorite is my Aunt Barb. She is one of the most down-to-earth and loving people I have ever known. She has raised 7 kids (the youngest is 16 now) in a very small house and on a small budget. She is the one that always wants to get the family together and when we are together we have the best times. I have watched her work her way up from a Wal-Mart cashier to a computer programmer for a large hospital and couldn’t be more proud of her accomplishments.
Alicia asked: Where do you see yourself in 20 years? What is your favorite book/movie? Who is the first person you call when the going gets tough? What is your “comfort food”?
Twenty years from now I imagine I will be getting ready for an “empty nest”. My kids (I’m assuming I’ll have more than one) will be growing up and venturing out on their own. Hopefully I will own a home in a nice suburb on the Kansas side of the city. If I’m lucky, I will be preparing to finish out my working years by baby-sitting my grandchildren (well, maybe more like 25 years from now for that part).
It is hard to choose a favorite book, but probably the one that made the most lasting impression on me was When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase. I read it for one of my Psych classes in college and I’ll never forget it.
My favorite movie would probably have to be 50 First Dates. I absolutely love Adam Sandler! I wouldn’t mind waking up every morning and having him try to make me fall in love with him all over again!
I really don’t have anybody I call when the going gets tough. I’m more of a writer than a talker. I either blog it or just write it out on paper and then rip it up. It usually makes me feel better. But, if someone such as my mom or one of my friends happens to call at just the right time, they will get an ear full. I also have a friend that I talk to over IM. If I can catch him, he’s usually my first choice to talk to.
My “comfort food” is PIZZA! Specifically, Papa John’s Hawaiian Barbeque pizza. I’m pretty sure I could eat my weight in the stuff. In fact, I could really use some now…
I’m having a great time answering all these questions, so feel free to ask more and I’ll post another set of answers.
