To Being Me...

Please excuse me while I rant a minute...

I'm tired of feeling judged for being the person I want to be. Who cares if I'm 24 years old and still reads out of the Y.A. section? Who cares if I love Taylor Swift and Katy Perry? Who cares if I have the innate tendency to smile all the time...even when I don't realize I'm doing it.

I'm tired of having to defend myself and my actions, and feeling guilty when I don't live up to expectations. Life is about having fun. You only get to live once, so why try to fit into the status quo? I like what I like, and I'm not going to change for anyone. I've struggled for long enough trying to feel comfortable in my own skin and I'm tired of it. In the words of the wise Selena "I'm just beautiful me." I'm not going to let the naysayers get me down. I'm going to be me no matter what. Take it or leave it.

Elyse, killer of fish

Before ya'll wig out on me about the title of this post, let me explain. I have the best dentist in the world. They play movies while you're in the waiting room. This time around for my biannual visit, they were playing Finding Nemo. I hadn't seen this movie in a while and cracked up when Gil says

"All drains lead to the ocean"

and Nemo decides to get himself flushed.

via...

Why might I find this line unusually funny? When I was little I had this goldfish who passed away at an unfortunate time. Poor little Flounder was floating upside down in his bowl and my Mama informed me that we were sending him back home to be with his family in the ocean. My Mama ceremoniously put Flounder in the toilet and flushed him down.

A couple of years down the road I decided to go on a crusade a to win fish at carnivals, fall festivals, etc., and send those poor fishies back to their families. Well how was Little Elyse supposed to release these poor creatures back home when I lived 3 hours away to the closest beach? That's right people, my name is Elyse and I am the killer of fish. It wasn't until later that I realized that these poor, innocent fish did not end up going back to the ocean, but rather the septic tank in my backyard.

Handwritten

I found this little game over at Oh, Mishka and was tagged by the lovely Kelsey and decided it looked like fun. Here's how you play:

Answer the following questions on a piece of paper...

1. What’s your name / blogger name?
2. What’s your blogs URL?
3. Write, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your favorite song?
6. Your favorite band / singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag 3 bloggers to participate.

I love looking at other people's handwriting. I also like seeing how mine has evolved over the years. I find I make small changes every couple of years. I hope ya'll decide to play along. Let me know if you do.

Down in the Dumps...

So it's not a lie when I say I've been in the dumps these past two weeks. It was super hard missing home, but there are a couple of things that get me through this.

I love my skype dates with my parents. I love my Mama and Daddy O to pieces. I love that they learned how to use skype just for me...and I love being able to see their faces whenever I get lonely.

I also get by with a little help from my friends. I'm looking at ya'll. Seriously, my life is so much better with ya'll in it. Thank you.

While I don't always do this first, which is something I need to work on, I pray.

I also get by, by singing this little diddy in my head. In one of my darkest hours, my friend Stacey, told me this is what she sings when she's down. Well I persevered thanks to her and this little song. I'm eternally grateful to Charlotte's Web and Stacey for telling me to "chin up".

The Giggle Loop

Before you read any further into this post, you may want to watch this video from BBC's Coupling, explaining what a giggle loop is. Warning...once you know what a giggle loop is, you're pretty much out of luck in non-giggling approved situations.



So you ask, Elyse, why did you mention the giggle loop? Well, my friends, I am an awkward laugher. I laugh at situations that I shouldn't and it tends to get me into trouble. This sort of incident happened to occur during the first class of the semester at a very unfortunate moment.

The class is Masculinity and Violence and the professor was going over the reading list. The books are all very heavy material, as they deal with gender constructs, violence and general male-ness. While describing one particular book, the professor was mentioning violent groups and some pretty horrible sexual practices that occur in them. Well, my mind flashed back to an episode of How I Met Your Mother and it kind of reminded me of something my beloved Barney would do. It also reminded me of some unsavory behavior I saw today in Target while walking past a certain section of the pharmacy. Well the next thing I know, I giggle in the middle of the class. I tried to hide it thinking, hoping, praying, no one heard it. WRONG! The professor heard it and asked "Did that trigger something in your memory?" Then I had to explain the How I Met Your Mother situation, since I thought it was a better story than my Target one. Apparently, he was not amused. Awkward moment, accomplished, and the giggle loop strikes again.

Sigh...here's to beginning the semester on an awkward foot.

Babies of the 80's

Being born in 1987, I didn't get to get feel the full effect of the 80's. But having spent 2 1/2 years in the 80's, somethings have rubbed off. Besides my love for 80's music, my love extends to yummy 80's drinks...like Five Alive! Seriously, they stopped selling this stuff in Georgia ages ago and I stumbled across it in Missouri last week. I bought four things of it, just incase it disappeared over night. You'll be happy to know, that I've shown self restraint and have only consumed one of these delicious drinks.

But anyways, everytime I drink it, I always hear Something Corporate's Babies of the 80's in my head.

Thinking about the lyrics really made me realize how much the 80's rubbed off on me. I was that little girl in lycra shorts and jelly shoes, I had lenolium floors, played on the slip-n-slide and with nerf, went to Chuck-e-Cheeze and watched Bozo the Clown. So I guess even though I spent a short part of my life in the 80's, I really am a baby of the 80's.

23 Random Things

Why 23? Because that's how old I am now. Yep, today is my birthday and I'm officially an old fart. So to celebrate my being old, I figured I'd tell ya'll 23 random things about myself.

1. I've never been kissed.
2. I've never had a boyfriend. Sure, I've been on dates, but nothing that turned
into a relationship. Sometimes I think there may be something wrong with me.
3. I consider myself a Coke Icee connoisseur. I even have a ranking system. The top
three are from Racetrac, WaWa, and 7-11. Only one which is in the state of
Georgia.
4. Bombpops are my favorite thing to get from the icecream man. I will
consistently choose them every time.
5. I have a teddy bear, Cherry, that I've had since I was four. She's a survivor
since she's still intact after an encounter of being run over by a train in
Colorado.
6. I've been to Forks twice, and I'm planning to go out there again with Lauren
either this winter or for Spring Break. I love Washington!
7. I'm double jointed in my toes and I constantly creep people out with them.
8. I cannot pronounce the word cement correctly. Apparently I sound like Ellie Mae saying "cement pond."
9. I also can't pronounce the word pancake...it always comes out pan-a-cake. I really have to think about it when I'm Ihop.
10. My southern accent comes out when I'm stressed, upset, or really excited. My i's and y's are embarrassingly hickish sounding.
11. My favorite bbq joint in the world is Beachcombers on St. Simons Island. I swear I have dreamed about their pulled pork sandwiches.
12. My Paw-Paw taught me how to operate a tractor at the age of three, even though I couldn't reach the peddles.
13. If I were stranded on an island and only allowed one beauty product (outside of soap), it would have to be mascara.
14. I'm still bitter that the tv show American Dreams was cancelled.
15. I think the relationship between Lorelai and Rory Gilmore was based after my Mama's and mine.
16. I like my sweet tea so sweet that it could put me in a diabetic coma. Sad, I know.
17. My favorite city ever is Seattle.
18. I'm proud to be a Georgia Peach and I'm going to be extremely sad when I have to leave Georgia for grad school.
19. My Daddy O and Mumsie Dearest are the role models I base my life upon. If I can grow up to be as half as cool as them, then I'll be happy.
20. My Paw-Paw is one of my favorite people on this planet. He is a retired mechanic and professional drag racer and tells the coolest stories.
21. I love making nicknames up for people.
22. I want to get married in Christ Church on St. Simon's Island...have to find a boy first though.
23. I seriously thought about moving to Savannah and doing historic home renovation by day and being a ghost hunter by night.

So, since I've divulged 23 random things about myself...tell me something random about you :)