Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Today I thought I would be really random. This post isn't truly random, though, because I've been thinking about it for some time now.

You probably already know this (I doubt it'll come as a newsflash), but I am quirky. I'm a little strange. By the world's standards, I'm downright weird. Lately it seems that I have been noticing it more than ever before. Some days I embrace who I am, quirkiness and all. Other days, I struggle with feeling so different from those around me. One of the amazing things about blogging, however, is that it has shown me that, believe it or not, there are a lot of girls out there who have the same interests, hobbies, standards, and beliefs as me.

I've come across people who are obsessed with sunsets just as much as me. And girls who are my age and haven't met Mr. Right yet (and refuse to settle for less). And girls whose favorite book is "Pride and Prejudice." And those who believe that classic movies are almost the only ones worth watching. These things have been really encouraging to me and have caused me to continue blogging. So without further ado, here are six examples of my quirkiness (because today is the 6th :):

1. I can't bring myself to watch TV episodes out of order. If I'm watching reruns on TV it doesn't bother me, but if I'm watching one of my series on DVD, it does. Even if it's an episode that I don't particularly like, I can't skip over it. I have to watch them all in order. :)

2. I despise the sticky residue that some price stickers leave on books. That is one of my major pet peeves and it drives me crazy. As soon as I buy a new book, I automatically peel off the sticker. I can't stand to leave it on there...it makes it seem like it's not mine. I feel the need to bond with a new book. :) But I hate, hate, hate it when the sticker is one of those cheap flimsy kinds that leaves sticky gunk and tiny pieces of the sticker behind after you pull it off. And then the sticky gunk attracts all kinds of dirt. And then you put the book in your bookcase, and when you pull it out again, it has welded itself to the back/front of a neighboring book. Seriously, a sticker that pulls off cleanly is not impossible...some bookstores already use that kind. Why can't the others do the same? *rant over*

3. I am a collector. I collect many things, such as books, CDs, and DVDs. I also collect all sorts of pretty old magazines or pictures or paper scraps that I think I might possibly use some day in my journal (which has become a journal/art journal/scrapbook kind of thing now). This is a sample of my case of CMOCD (classic movie obsessive collecting disorder):

4. I am obsessed with idea of traveling to Europe. This is one of my major life goals, as silly as it may sound. On my honeymoon or sometime turning my life, I want to go to Europe. Most specifically the United Kingdom, but I do want to visit Paris, Rome, Venice, etc. I've actually started a list of places in the UK that I would want to visit. Most of my favorite books or movies were written/set/filmed there, so I want to go to all of those places: the Yorkshire moors, all Jane Austen-related places (including her home at Chawton, seen below), C.S. Lewis related places, and the filming locations of the 2005 P&P and 2009 Emma. I also want to visit Beatrix Potter's home, at least one real castle, the Lake District, thatched roof cottages, and the list goes on and on. I may have an unrealistic view of traveling to Europe, but I'm pretty smitten with the beautiful sights.



5. I recently wrote out a "bucket list." Does that sound completely morbid? Because it's really not. I'm not exactly planning on dying anytime soon (that's up to God, of course), but I do have a list of things I want to accomplish before I die. The idea had been in the back of my head ever since I saw "A Walk to Remember," but I actually decided to do it a few weeks ago when me and my mom went to the local production of "Annie." I decided right there that, once in my life, I wanted to attend a real Broadway musical. So that was the beginning of my bucket list. I plan to add more gradually, but right now I have nineteen goals. Some of them are: travel to Europe (surprised?), learn book-binding (like the coptic stitch or some way to make my own journals), go to a midnight movie showing, and tour a real castle. The only one I have checked off so far is "write a novel," because I did that last November in NaNoWriMo (and I intend to do it again this November...I'm already jotting down ideas). Is it cheating to write down something that I've already done?

6. I love a few of Lynyrd Skynyrd's songs. Yes, those long-haired, 70s, southern rock guys. It's sort of a cultural thing here, I guess. My dad loved them when he was younger, and I really like a few of their songs ("Sweet Home Alabama," "Freebird," "Simple Man," "Mr. Banker"). If any band or musician comes around here and plays "Sweet Home Alabama," the people here hoot and holler and sway so much that you would think you were in Alabama. Never, ever tell anyone who was born and raised in our part of Virginia that we really shouldn't be considered a Southern state (didn't you know that the last capital of the confederacy-for precisely 7 days-was in a small town in Virginia?). We have a serious dose of Southern pride. :) And I guess Lynyrd Skynyrd is just a small part of that.

Until next time,