About Me

You know, I was sitting here thinking and I was like, I know I've had my blog for a while, but how much do readers really know about me?   I know, it's silly right? that this would occur to me so late in the game. But i thought i'd just throw some fun facts about Jen, or Fun Jen Facts. Or... dang, that's as catchy as it'll get.  


Because if there's anything I know, it's me.

1. With quite a bit of heat behind it, I looooooathe news channels. Mostly Fox, and the like. I can't stand anyone on that channel.  It's just all pure insane ridiculousness, and I cannot believe any of them can be even close to trying to be viewed as for real.  I'm aghast. And, to quote a funny friend of mine, hearing them makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out with a lemon zester.  And i guess my ears too.  
2. Sort of on that note, as do many, I love all things BBC.  I'm so thankful for british actors who, I feel, have a duty to us to portray old novel characters and tell Jane Austen's stories and be Sherlock Holmes.   And, my favorite news (and i never watch the news) is BBC news. I love their accent, straight facedness, non-ridiculousness, non-hyped-upness (i am so good with the words), and the dry tell-it-as-it-is'ness. I want the BBC to tell me all the American news. 
3. I hate cooking.  I'm sure i've mentioned this but it's very true.  I find not a lot of pleasure in it. In fact, i don't find any.  It's a job to be done and i kind of hate it, and don't do it a lot of the time. It's just one of those things about life i don't derive satisfaction from.  I wonder if i'd enjoy it more if i was able to work at it alone, with a decent kitchen and tools.  But as it is, blah.  I don't mind baking, and I really love it with Sean, especially when it's our own masterpieces.  But cooking can eat it..self..i guess.
4. If someone were to ask me, when is your favorite time of day? I'd think about it, and i'd have several answers for differing reasons but the one i'd choose is Twilight, not only because I love the movies, but the light is just gorgeous and takes my breath away. You can't beat that color and i challenge anyone to try. Suddenly i've turned very competitive about what the best color is. (I WIN)
5. I think I'm pretty easy to please.  It doesn't take much to make me happy.  I'm not sure, but I will say i'm pretty easy to buy gifts for.  Someone who's given me a gift tell me if this is true. And if you aren't sure, you might want to try giving me a gift to find out.
6. The other day I met someone new and he told me he just returned from teaching English in Abu Dhabi. Suffering from temporary geographical memory loss i asked him to remind me where that was. He said it was in the United Arab Emirates. My response of "Ohh, that's the capital, right?" was muffled by him continuing to explain to tell me where that was-- "It's one of those little countries off of Saudi Arabia--"  and, though he was very nice, it was all i could do to not make a time-out sign and exclaim, "CUT--I KNOW WHERE IT IS. I LOVE GEOGRAPHY"  because I just couldn't handle someone in the world thinking I was someone who did not have maps growing up. If he had the wrong idea about me in that way, of that magnitude, where could we possibly go from there?? How could i explain such a huge part of myself to someone in such a short amount of time? And if I let him believe these grossly false things, how could we ever be real friends? I mean, it's not like every person i meet has to know this about me first off-- "Hi, I'm Jen, and I love geography--go ahead, quiz me!" No. Because I know a little something about how to make friends. But it was so contrary to who I am as a person, I had to say something, so i did, and it was slightly less abrupt and abrasive than what i put up there.   I mean, it's like the other day when a neighbor friend of mine and i were in the backyard watching Julian and chatting and she turned to me and said, "Have you ever seen Jurassic Park?"  and of course this was my face:      
   
   

    
   I mean, what do i do with that?? Where do we go from there?? I tried to make a joke of it, but the desperation and immense horror shock seeped through, I know it.  (and also, who hasn't seen Jurassic Park?? aside from my particular love for it)
   
   (p.s. if you need it, click here, here, here, and here and here to get a feel for what i'm talking about)
7. I am a big time journal keeper.  What does "big time" mean? Like, forever and ever i have been keeping one. And it's huge. At least a couple thousand pages.  This year marks the 19th anniversary of my journal, all kept on the computer.  Is there even anything else in my life that comes close to a 19th anniversary? The first line of my journal reads, "Well, I figured I should start another journal. I have about a hundred."   I was 13. I remember that moment.  
   
   I use my journal for a lot of things, one of which being a record of my history. So many times I have wondered a detail about past events and I consult the journal and lo, there it is.  I use it to write down major events and process my feelings. It's very cathartic for me, and helps me sort myself out.  I also will transfer meaningful text there, like gchat conversations.  For my sister's birthday, I went through and did a search for her name and copied every memory or related event and cut them up and put them in a jar for her.  I can't tell you how awesome/trippy it is to watch (read?)  yourself age in mere minutes.  The 14-year-old Jen is hilarious, and by hilarious I mean very very 14. And I've got her at my fingertips.
8. When I was in high school I took an astronomy class and it was there that I truly fell in love with the stars.   I've always been interested in astronomical things but I will never forget the moment, after learning about constellations, when i stepped out to the night sky and smacked right into my first newly learned constellation, Cassiopeia, right there in her royal glory above the horizon before me.  What went unnoticed for so long I suddenly recognized, and I felt foolish for having been unaware of something so important (to me) and was desperate to know them all.  And I became addicted. Many a night would I take my star chart, climb up onto the roof of my house and try to find as many constellations as I could. And let me tell you, it was a deeply spiritual experience. So many hours. I became acquainted with them in every season and after a while I became determined to map them out in my mind so i could find them without my chart, wherever I was. And I can do it still, to this day. At least with my favorites.  I don't get to see the stars much around these parts but when I can step away from the big city, I make sure to look upward and it feels like I'm reuniting with old, very dear friends. Seeing them there, constant--just where i left them, calms my soul, warms my heart, and sparkles my eyes.  I love them, I really do.
9. I like to read aloud. I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I am saying I like to do it.  I work on my skills as I do it. I want to be good at it. Why? I don't really know. But, to re-reiterate, I enjoy it.  I have mentioned that I've read several books to Sean, including Harry Potter in its entirety and the Hunger Games trilogy.  It's fun.  Also, something about me-- it's hard for me to listen to something I could read. I mean, if I want to pay attention to something, reading it is better for me because my mind wanders at a drop of a hat.  I've told you I can wander in and out of a single conversation (even a short one) face-to-face with a human.  It's kind of crazy--like, what is wrong with me? I'm giving people the benefit of the doubt that they're not actually that boring-- i just have a roving mind. I am what I am.  That said, if you're reading this, if I am ever talking to you, of course i am paying 100% attention. I am an engaged listener when you're talking to me.

I'm going to end this for now but something tells me I'll have more to say about me, so stay tuned for About Me, The Sequel, or About Me Too (< -- better).