It's Not Win or Lose, It's Really Just Win

[desire-of-nymph.livejournal.com]

Name: Katie
Age: 21
Location: The U.P.
Occupation: Student!




All About You

1. Describe your ideal house/home. Please go into as much detail as possible, and be sure to include your ideal geographical location in the description!.
Let's start with the location, shall we? The middle of a forest with a ridge nearby overlooking a lazy river. (Although I would accept that ridge overlooking a huge body of water such as Lake Superior since I've fallen in love with living within sight of it.) A clearing for the fruit trees that grow well in more temperate climates (apple, black cherry) and a fenced in yard to help keep the dogs I will have from running off and getting lost or hurt. No need for a garden other than the mini-orchard because I like the way nature is on its own without my interference, not even to plant grass seeds so that there will be a lawn. I would mess the landscape up a bit to put in an outdoor firepit and a woodshed (though I wouldn't be the one keeping the wood chopped, leave that to my girlfriend). There would also need to be at least one silver maple, because they are just that gorgeous.

The house itself will be simple, a little more than I strictly need but not too much because there's no sense in that. The lower floor would have the typical kitchen and dining room combined - with me not really caring a whit about what the kitchen looks like since I am a miserable cook and all but forbidden from the kitchen for everything but making sandwhiches. Instead of a living room would be a den with a nice fireplace and at least three bookshelves, a perfect place for curling up and reading a good book at the end of a day. Possibly a screened-in porch as well, complete with a nice jacuzzi. Upstairs would be for a room split to be my writing room and my girl's artistic room, probably right down the middle with my half being more organized but less colorful. Then a very nice master bedroom with a connected bathroom, which I will admit will be nicer than it has to be because I want a really nice deep tub and one of those double showers that are bigger than they need to be. Spare bedrooms too, of course, but only two and one of them would be dedicated to the dogs and cats.

2. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
-Deep water. I am a good swimmer and I do swim in deep water - but my imagination grabs hold of me the second I can't see what's below me and I start imagining every terrible thing that could be done there, just waiting to grab and drag me under. I could be in a murky pool that was clear the day before and I will still have problems staying out in the middle without making for the edge as soon as I can. I still go into the deep water, all of the time, but it doesn't mean I'm not afraid of it.

-Losing. I know, I know, everyone should be as good of a loser as they are a winner - and I am a gracious loser a lot of the time, I just fear losing and avoid it at all costs. It makes me feel like I'm little and weak (I'm really not tall, but I'm not weak) and I've done everything I can to make those feelings go away and losing at anything, from solitaire to those mock battles my cousins and I would engage in... losing never made me angry, it just scared me because I thought I'd lose every time until I proved otherwise.

-My ankles giving out. I was born with short Achilles tendons (the ones at the back of your heel) and had them lengthened when I was fourteen. Before that they would give out occasionally and I might fall down while playing softball or going up the stairs at school, and afterwards I was on crutches for a total of six months, then it took nearly a year to strengthen them back up. Sometimes they still twinge and I've even stumbled, but I haven't fallen down again. I'm afraid of my ankles giving out again like they used to before they fully healed.

3. What is your favorite aspect of your physical appearance and why?
I like my eyes and they garner compliments - but I actually really like my neck. It's long - something I like since I'm short and all - and slender and just looks really nice. Makes me look taller when I'm sitting or standing and it just curves very nicely. It's got about a point on my eyes on rank of what I like about me.

4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would you change and why?
Let me be the freakiest girl on the planet and announce my strangeness to all of you right at the start: I would shrink my chest. It gets in the way far too much, especially with volleyball... bumping the ball is a lot harder when squeezing your arms together causes a bit of pain. It also makes me look all strangely proportioned and I feel awkward in tanktops, like I'm flaunting something that I don't need to flaunt, even if it's funny to watch other girls glare at me or get jealous when I'm not trying to draw attention.

5. Imagine you’re given the classic opportunity: a genie granting you three wishes. What would you wish for? Wishing for more wishes is not permitted!
1st Wish: Enough money to get myself and my girlfriend through all the college we need with ease along with some left over to help us out for our first few years in the "real world".
2nd Wish: Two sets of season tickets for the rest of my life to the Detroit Red Wings games and the Colorado Rapids games. It is probably a really strange wish, but the price of tickets for the Red Wings games have sky-rocketed and I do love my Wings.
3rd Wish: I can't say world peace because I don't think it's possible, but I can say that I would wish for the economy to stop dropping so rapidly and to go back to a nice level so that my generation does not have to live through a true depression. Really, I know a lot of people who would do poorly with having to limit themselves, their intake, etc. and I would likely be one of them. I like traveling and unless the economy levels, that'll be really hard. All the money in the world won't help if it becomes worth next to nothing, after all.

6. In your life so far, what accomplishment are you the most proud of? You can list more than one if you have trouble deciding. ;)
- Winning Top Fundraiser and Top Reader in my elementary school's MS drive, I raised over two hundred dollars is a month just from reading.
- Securing a 28 on my ACT without studying and successfully showing my aunt that no, her daughter is not the most intelligent one in the family. (I didn't brag to the cousin, just to the aunt who always puts the rest of us down)
- Being elected House President for my college dorm for this past school year after being fundraiser and social chair for the previous year and a half.
- Being elected Vice President (despite not planning on running at all) to Woven Paths, one of the college organizations I'm a member of.

7. Which of the following is most important to you: Love, Money, Knowledge, Family, Friendship, Adventure, or Pleasure? Which is the least important to you?
- Adventure is the most important to me. See new things, learn new things and grow all at the same time... and with adventure you can gain all of those if you know how to do it right. Poor people can adventure and rich people can adventure and they can come back completely changed for the better or the worse. I'll just go for the better.

- After that I have to rank them because I just... makes more sense to me: Knowledge, Love, Friendship, Money, Pleasure/Family. Yes, I ranked family last, but that doesn't mean I despise my family - I rather like them, they just... fall there and it's not as bad as it looks. They're really close, tied with pleasure.

8. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values?
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. ~ Hannah Moore

9. How do you manage your money? On that note, how important is money/financial security to you?
Manage my money? What money? Okay, I do have a job, but all the money that I earn goes to pay off the loans I have had to take out in order to pay for university. The bits that are left over go to needed supplies or, on the rare occasion, go towards a movie or date or gift. I plan on saving some this summer after I pay off my loan, and then again during the school year so that I can maybe actually do something for spring break this year. Financial security is important to me, if only because I've learned what it's like to not have it. It's not a comfortable feeling.

10. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
- Writing is a big hobby of mine. I wrote my first short story when I was in kindergarten (about trick-or-treaters who got sucked into a scary world) and never really stopped. Now I don't have as much time as I'd like, but I write when I can and try to keep my regular journal (and livejournal) up to date amidst everything. I write fanfic too, mostly to keep my skills honed.
- Biking. Around here that's the best way to get around and I love my bike. It's a bit too big for me but it gets me around and keeps me in good shape. I fully intend on my daily eight-mile ride once the temperature gets and stays above fifty degrees again.
- Chess. For awhile I had my girlfriend playing a game with me every night and I can sometimes still rope my brother into playing with me. I learned how on one of those little portable magnetic sets that you get as fundraiser prizes when I was about seven and it's still my favorite boardgame. Good to play when it's raining.
- Hiking. Around here and at my university is prime hiking country, right on Lake Superior, and I'm sure to go whenever I have the time. Even if it's just for an hour or two it's still really invigorating, and the landscape is gorgeous.
- Let's not forget my geek: reading is right up there and I try to read at least a chapter, if not more, of one book or another every day. Yes, schoolbooks count during the school year.
- This one clashes with the stereotypical assumptions that go along with love of sports: but I actually enjoy studying and do it more often than I have to. Partially because I don't like failing and partially because I think it's... fun to rewrite my notes and highlight in the books.
- I'll admit my love for role-playing, I even did D&D in my teen years. When I wasn't playing soccer, volleyball, etc. etc. I'm a bad stereo-type.

11. Name (and elaborate on) your top three BEST and top three WORST qualities (personality-related, not physical).
Best:
- I am intelligent, and I usually hover around the top of my class to the surprise of most people who don't know me all that well. It comes in handy for conversations and such because I'm rarely at a loss for what to talk about with various people, especially ones who are older than me. It's fun to keep people off balance by knowing things they don't think you do.
- I am naturally talented, and no this isn't the same as being intelligent. By talented I mean that I take well to practically anything put in front of me. (Though I do admit failure when it comes to some of those Wii games) It may not always draw the most positive attention from people, but it makes me feel good about myself to know that I can be good at things, even if I'm not the best.
- I am a leader. I may not always take the lead right at the start, but by the end I've usually gotten as high up as I want to go because I know how to get there and I know what it takes to stay there. I'm good at getting people to do what they should (what they're good at) without pushing them in a way that would be upsetting. It makes for a good group environment on projects and the like.

Worst:
- While self-confidence is generally a good trait, I view mine as a double-edged sword that slices most into the bad category. Sometimes I confident to the point of being cocky, if a quiet sort of cocky, and it's gotten me into trouble more times than I care to count. Never confident to the point of being brash, but to that point where people roll their eyes and mutter.
- Ahhh... I don't like people as customers. I've worked at Subway and met the dumbest people, I swear, and they made me want to stick my head in the toaster oven. I do not do well with stupid people who ask stupid questions. I never yell or get angry, just frustrated and unhappy when they leave.
- I forget that I have limitations when it comes to any sort of activity, including staying awake. I got heatstroke once because I raced my cousin the last two miles home in the middle of July - only she actually stopped when she got too hot and I kept going until I got home and collapsed... yeah, that whole not liking to lose thing makes me push myself right to the brink. It's good for studying, but bad for other things.





A Song of Ice and Fire Related

1.Which is your favorite book of the series so far? What about your least favorite?
A Game of Thrones will likely remain my favorite right until the end. It introduces the main plot and it was the whole reason why I started in on this series, which is kind of obvious, but still. I enjoyed it and decided that the series would indeed be worth my time despite the unexpected death in there. My least favorite was Clash of Kings. Sure a lot happened in it and it had a faster pace than the first book, but it just didn't have the same allure as any of the others.

2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series?
- Melisandre is brilliant. Okay, so she seems a little... strange, but she has something amazing at her fingertips despite her oddities. She may not be an extremely prominent character but I had an immediate attraction to her character and it has yet to fade.
- Arianne Martell is pretty much awesome. She has a will, a sense of adventure and refuses to settle for less than she knows she deserves. Sure, she had some bad points, but I just plain like and admire her character.
- Bran Stark. His abilities that he only learned after his fall from the tower were enough to make me like him, even if his love of climbing hadn't endeared him to me beforehand.

3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series?
- Petyr Baelish "Littlefinger". He makes my skin crawl and the ease with which he disposed of someone just made me shudder. I do not care who he was helping or how good his intents are, I just don't like the man and doubt that I ever will.
- Catelyn Stark. Come on, right from the start this woman bothered me. Her hatred towards Jon and just her general demeanor... she may be honorable and devoted, but some things can be taken too far and I think that this woman is a perfect example of what no one should ever become.
- Walder Frey broke the sacred laws of hospitality. I may not think that all laws need be strictly adhered to, but some things are just not done and when that happened... I hadn't really cared for the Lord Frey before, but once that happened I was full-out disgusted and that has very rarely happened with me and characters before. Even Joffrey didn't turn my stomach as much as this man.

4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far?
When Tywin got exactly what was coming to him, the dirty little s.o.b. Manipulation is not the problem, but the way this man went about everything bothered me to no ends. He had to have known that those grandchildren of his were really of nothing but his blood and not supported them or his daughter as much as he did. When Tyrion did what he did I nearly danced a little caper right then and there, but stopped because I was kind of in the middle of a full lobby.

5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end?
Honestly? I haven't got the slightest clue! Only things I know are that I want Bran to live and develop his skill more, I want Jon to do something more and I want that prophecy concerning Cersei to come true, just because. Other than that, I'm along for the ride and quite happy to stay exactly there.

Links to at least 3 applications you voted on:

1 - link
2 - link
3 - link

Comments

Re: House Tully

[desire-of-nymph.livejournal.com]

Lake Superior is the only place to swim, right up until you turn blue and pebbly. ;) Although I guess the ocean is nice too, it doesn't get very warm either. And it's clean.