Category: Life

Posted in Life

What Is Your Favorite Animal?

Posted on by jennrae

I like most animals, unlike most people, as far as real life animals go, I do prefer cats. Big cats, little cats, weird cats. If we open it up to the fantastical, I love dragons and unicorns. There was a time where I had dragon, unicorn and white tiger figurines all over my house. I have over time lost or gotten rid of most of them. There are still some tigers around here, but it is a bit more subtle.

Kitkat broke a glass dragon when she was a kitten. She killed every houseplant I had, she just would uproot the plant and knock dirt all over the place. She just didn’t want them to live. I gave up on having houseplants, or most glass objects.

She was a chewer too, I had to get her dog toys. Cat toys would be destroyed in seconds, and she still would break the squeaker in the dog toys. She has a Kong ball. I am convinced she is a African wildcat that somehow escaped from the game farm. She would chew through wires too, so we had to get a wireless mouse for the computer. I told her she was hunting the wrong kind of mouse. But, despite all that, I still love her, and most cats I meet.

I also like dogs, I am just away from the house a little too much and have no yard to speak of. So, can’t really have a dog at the moment. But I do fuss over my parent’s basset hound, Bilbo who is incredibly cute and goofy. Maybe someday if I can get some property, I would love to have a dog. I had a sheltie as a kid named Buddy that I loved a lot. He was fun.

I had some bad experiences with horses, I am sure they are great. I always liked the look of them. But I had one that didn’t like me and one that was terribly skittish, so I didn’t bond like the girls in the books I liked to read did. But I love drawing them. They are beautiful. I guess if I had a pet dragon, or unicorn it probably would have ended badly as well, so I might just stick with my wildcat.

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite animal?
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Posted in Life

Think Back On Your Most Memorable Road Trip.

Posted on by jennrae

My most memorable road trip as a child was when we drove down from NW Washington to northern California. We stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory in Oregon, and the redwood forests. I remember fitting into this tree that was so massive. And, I remember going to rest stops and I think we went to a beach someplace. The details are fuzzy. I think I was eleven.

I went on a more recent trip a few years ago with my son where we went from where we are to Hillsboro, Oregon. We stopped at Vancouver and went to the mall there. He had never been to a two story mall before, and it was busy so it reminded me of what malls used to be like. They had an arcade on the bottom part, and a go-cart racetrack outside the mall.

A lot of options besides shopping which made it more fun. In Hillsboro we ate at a good burger place called Killer Burger, and I took my son to a place for airsoft, which is why he wanted to go there. Someday, I’d like to go a little further, maybe down the coast, or perhaps further east like Idaho, or Montana.

Daily writing prompt
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
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Posted in Life

What Snack Would You Eat Right Now?

Posted on by jennrae

Quesadillas or chips and salsa sound good about now, maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I get really hungry it doesn’t really matter.

Although, I don’t snack a lot, I keep it mostly to a couple meals. I usually skip breakfast, although I want to stop that, unless you count coffee.

And, then I have lunch, and then later dinner. If I am watching a game I may snack a bit more, but that is only occasionally. Or at a picnic, or potluck or a social event. Something unusual.

Although it is getting close to my lunch time, so I very well might make quesadillas since that sounds really good right now. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday.

Daily writing prompt
What snack would you eat right now?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What’s Your Dream Job?

Posted on by jennrae

My dream job would be to get paid for my writing and to make enough to not need another job. Something that allows me to have the time and money to travel and experience things without worrying excessively about money.

I would be my own boss and make my own schedule. It would be nice to be able to be creative from morning until night. Of course, things are always less fun once it becomes work.

It ceases to be fun when the stakes are higher. I do think I would be better suited to that type of work due to my introspective nature than the customer service work I currently do.

My current work can be draining and I have to pretend to be more sociable than I usually want to be. I come home exhausted mentally from all the interactions, most of which are the trivial “hey, how are you doing”, type of things.

I would be worried that I need to improve my self discipline in order to make that work as I am used to having a set schedule that is made for me. It would be worth it though. Just to be my own master and to do what I love doing.

Daily writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
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Posted in Life

Describe An Item You Were Incredibly Attached to as a Youth. What Became of It?

Posted on by jennrae

There were a few things I was attached to as a kid. One was this music box, with a girl on it holding an umbrella. You took the girl off she was a part of the lid and there was a circular container for whatever treasures.

I think I was five years old when I got it. You would wind it up and it would play Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head. I always stop when I hear this song even now, and it takes me back to that music box. Whenever I watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I just love the scene they use this song in, it is just a happy go lucky scene. I still like the rain, and I bet it is due to this music box.

I don’t remember what happened to it. I was rough on my things as a kid, I was one of those girls who would give her barbie’s a haircut, and often broke their heads off. I wanted to see how they worked. I wasn’t nice to my stuff until I was a little older. It was made out of plastic, so, I am sure my Mom tossed it when it became damaged.

The other item was a little ring with a fake sapphire in it, I think it may have been from a yard sale, or something. Sapphire is my birthstone, and dark blue is still one of, if not my favorite, colors. I kept that thing so long. I think again, I was five or six when I got that, I begged to get it, and my Mom said okay. It wasn’t expensive it was like a dollar ring.

I lost it on my high school graduation day. It somehow slipped off my finger along the pathway. I have very small hands, almost child like. I think it was on my pinkie by this time.

I went back to try and find it, and I couldn’t. I guess like my childhood, the ring’s time with me was up. I have had some sapphire rings since that were real, but I lost all of them in the move. Maybe I’ll buy another in the future.

Daily writing prompt
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What is Your Mission?

Posted on by jennrae

My mission in life is to leave things better than I found them, and to hopefully make people smile or at least think about things a little deeper, a little more perhaps. I guess my mission would be to write and have my writings leave a mark on someone somewhere.

To be read, like Jules Verne, or Edgar Allen Poe long after I am gone from this world would be amazing. It is a form of immortality in a way. I don’t want to be famous, per se, I just want my ideas to live on, in some capacity. Even if it is just a family heirloom of a book that my family passes down, or if somehow I influence someone who becomes more successful than I.

Just to know I have done something worthy, even if it is just for me. That I didn’t just work myself to death day in and day out doing the same thing over and over and over. I guess I want to gain and pass on knowledge to others, and hopefully things get better in the future and people are brought together and are less hostile to other viewpoints.

I want to foster discussion and discourse, I want to encourage thinking and thoughts, outside of the obvious. I guess, ultimately I want to become the best version of me that I can be.

Daily writing prompt
What is your mission?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What Could You Do Differently?

Posted on by jennrae

That is hard to answer. I could do a lot of things differently. How I approach my writing, my web page, or even people I meet on the street. I usually skip breakfast, I can get ready for work pretty quickly. I am not one of those girls who primp for hours in front of a mirror. I can get ready in like fifteen minutes. And, be out the door. I don’t like to keep people waiting, and I like to be on time. I am a punctual person.

It does mean that I usually have coffee for breakfast, but then my lunch is kind of early. I have lunch when some eat breakfast. Late breakfast, but still early lunch. I have been going to the gym consistently, but I could probably add or vary my routine.

I plan on cutting down on my sugar intake, just still have a lot of garbage from the holidays laying around. Once, that is gone, I am planning on it staying gone.

I could be more organized. My room and my life is sort of chaotic at the moment. I could use more structure. I plan on structuring my time in order to be a bit more efficient.

I need to plan a new story and it just won’t happen if I don’t set aside a time slot for it. I am also trying to focus more on what I all ready have, instead of pining for what I don’t.

I need to be more grateful for the abundance that is all ready here. I need to get this writing gig off the ground so I can get away from a work environment that is at times hostile and not always good for my mental health.

But, I can’t wait for someone to step in and save me. I have to save myself. I have to try harder, and do more. More efficiency and better time management are definitely something to work on. Healthier habits will have healthier outcomes. I need to knuckle down and do the hard work. I need to do this for me.

Daily writing prompt
What could you do differently?
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Posted in Life, Writing

Do You Spend More Time Thinking About the Future or the Past?

Posted on by jennrae

I used to think more about the past by far, but lately, I have been focusing more on the future, while attempting to focus on the present. I am actually enjoying planning for the future. I got a special journal that is supposed to help with that. It is a Dream book and planner that I bought years ago before I was ready to face my fears.

It asks me a lot of questions and I am attempting to really think and answer honestly, which is forcing me to think about what I really want and how to get there.

I don’t want to be stuck with too many expectations or concrete plans because I do not want to be living my life dreaming and become disappointed when or if reality doesn’t align perfectly.

It is a balance that I am trying to attain. I want to have goals and visions of where I want to be, but I also need to focus on my day to day situations. I also want to learn from the past, but no longer be chained to it.

I have come to the difficult decision that I should table my old manuscript because I am not in the same place as I was when I wrote it, and I really think I am using it as a crutch to not write anything new. I would like to get something published this year in some form. And, I don’t think that will happen if I stay fixated on that particular mess.

I think I am going to try to plot out an idea and a cast of characters and try to make something brand new. I also am going to attempt to delegate at least thirty minutes to this endeavor. We’ll see how it goes, I may even set an alarm. Make it a habit like going to the gym. Been pretty consistent about that and I am proud of that, now if I add this, and stick with it, it will be another victory for me.

Daily writing prompt
Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?
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Posted in Life, Writing

Do You Play In Your Daily Life? What Says “Playtime” To You?

Posted on by jennrae

I suppose playtime to me is free time, time that is unscheduled and unplanned. I tend to be tired after work, although I do occasionally play Hearthstone, and some WoW, although I haven’t been lately. I have made the conscious decision that I need to work more on my creative endeavors rather than spend my time consuming other people’s. I only have so much time, although to be honest, I still watch some television shows and some movies.

I am enjoying The Head, kind of a murder mystery show. It has some interesting characters and it has surprised me a few times although Season one I figured out ahead of time. I have also been enjoying What We Do In the Shadows, because we have been on a vampire kick lately with Nosferatu and all. I also have been going to the gym everyday it has been open, and going for walks whenever I can. I like to get some fresh air. I like to be near nature.

Writing is a form of play for me though. I enjoy replying on twitter, pretending I am so very witty. And, I enjoy reacting to things.

I also enjoy retail therapy. I just got a new coat that I adore, and some more DVDs from the Goodwill. I need to get some more binders to sort and store them though. I also enjoy reading and drawing, but I don’t always give myself enough time to enjoy these hobbies. And, I enjoy listening to music, in fact I am listening to music right now.

Daily writing prompt
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
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Posted in Life

What Makes You Feel Nostalgic?

Posted on by jennrae

Watching movies from the nineties makes me feel nostalgic. I just watched Reality Bites. Other movies that are good for this are: Singles, Empire Records, The Usual Suspects, and Four Rooms all make me feel nostalgic. Because I remember them from back in the day. Music will also make me feel nostalgic. I’ll associate music with a time or place, an event or a time period for sure.

Sometimes, walking or driving down a street will make me feel nostalgic. We went to the Regal Cinema in Lakewood, which I haven’t been to in years. And, it reminded me there used to be a twenty-four hour bowling alley with mini golf there. It is gone now, but the sign is the same. It was a bit surreal.

It was like I was transported to another year, but things were also different, so it was more like another dimension. Sometimes I will see a photo, or even a television commercial that will remind me of another time or place. It seems like the older I get, the more likely I am to be nostalgic, the more triggers I am going to have, good or bad, for other memories.

Sometimes someone will say something that will trigger something, or it could be as simple as a random thought in a chain of thoughts that eventually leads to something from the past. I don’t mind feeling nostalgic, but I don’t want to get trapped in the past either. I also want to look ahead to the future. So, I have to be cognizant of that and pull myself out of it sometimes.

Daily writing prompt
What makes you feel nostalgic?
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