9

So, there's this thing going around Facebook, where people post a specific number of little known facts about themselves. At the end they say, "Like my post and I'll give you a number!" And then, you're supposed to go make your own. Normally I steer clear of these things. I don't like doing what's popular, especially on Facebook, (Whatever, I'm probably a hipster.) but I did decide to comment on my cousin Mandi's post, and she asked if I wanted a number. For some reason I agreed. (Whatever, I'm not THAT much of a hipster. :p) But since I'm still too cool for Facebook, I decided to turn it into a blog post instead. But unless someone BEGS me, I won't be passing out numbers. I still don't like following trends. :p The number that Mandi gave me was 9, so here are 9 things about me that you probably didn't know. Unless you're related to me. :p

1. The nature of the conversation that got me into this list was a discussion of My Little Pony. So I thought it fitting to use my first "Fact" to reveal that I was a brony before it was cool. (Wow. I sound so hipster...) Although I wouldn't call myself one now, I don't watch the show, don't have any toys, when I was a little kid, I loved them. This was mainly because I loved horses. I had a ton of realistic horse toys. I also loved bright colors, as most kids do, and My Little Ponies were both. I don't think I saw them as "Girl's Toys" I just saw rainbow horses, and they were cool.

2. This fact is easily followed by the fact that I liked other things that one would consider girly too. I liked Lisa Frank stickers, I played Barbies with my cousin Shaina, though I used non-Barbie toys, and she had the dolls. (My Lion King toys were my all time favorites at that age.) I did want a Ken doll though, because I thought that would be the boy equivalent to a Barbie. I was breaking down those gender barriers at such a young age. :p

3. My next fact is that I have been a fanboy since I was about 10. (For those of you who have never heard the term, a fanboy, or fangirl, is someone who obsesses over something, a movie, a TV show, a book, a singer, pretty much anything that can qualify as a fandom) My first series that I obsessed over was a PBS show called Wishbone. I had other shows that I had liked a lot before then, Carmen Sandiego, The Magic School Bus, Zoom, but this was my first legitimate obsession. I tried to tape every single episode, I bought the movie, I bought the books, I even bought a stuffed Wishbone plush toy. I couldn't get enough.

4. In addition to television shows, I have gotten obsessed with various book series over the years, and my first big obsession was a series called The Boxcar Children. I loved those books so much. My cousin Shaina and I even made up a club in honor of them, called The Boxcar Children Club. We even made up our own theme song. No I will not sing it for you.

5. Let's move on to more recent years for the rest of these. Over the last couple of years I have lost around 50 lbs. I've always had health problems that have made losing weight difficult, but in the last couple of years I've started to manage them a bit better, and because of that, I've lost quite a bit of weight. I think that it is still coming off, even though the scale hasn't shown it recently, because for the last couple of weeks, I have found it increasingly difficult to keep my pants up. Apparently I need to start wearing a belt...

6. A lot of people get really personal with these things, and I've been debating with myself whether or not I should do so as well. So I don't get TOO personal, I decided to just do one single entry. I don't usually like getting very personal, so it remains to be seen if I will even keep this in the post. Over the last few years I've changed my views on a lot of things. I used to be a die hard Baptist/Republican/Conservative/Fundamentalist/I'm right/You're wrong kind of a person. Not so much any more. I came to realize what kind of a person that kind of a harsh, judgmental attitude made me, and I didn't like it. I decided to leave it behind. Now I don't claim any denomination, or political affiliation, and my life has been infinitely better since then. I am now one of those people who doesn't like to discuss religion or politics, because I know what those kinds of discussions can do to relationships. Especially on Facebook. You can post one innocent comment and someone will jump down your throat like you were the devil himself! I've found it's much better just to let people think they're right, and salvage your relationship, rather than prove them wrong and have them hate you.

7. Well, that was pretty heavy. Let's lighten this up a bit, shall we? How about this? Here's something that no one knows about me. Well, except for a few people I don't even know in person. I have a secret blog. Whoops, I guess it's not so secret anymore... Any of you ever heard of a little site called tumblr? Yeah, I've had a blog there since right before I moved to Ames, and I published the first official post a couple of months ago. I mainly use it as a place to re-post my fiction, and write about my fandoms. I'm hoping that I'll eventually find an audience other than my family and friends, who read my stuff because they actually like it, not just because they know me. So far I have 19 followers! Followers who found me and subscribed, without me asking them to read my stuff at all. They just came, liked what they saw, and kept coming back!

8. Which brings me to number 8. Why do I want strangers to read my work? Because eventually I want to be a published author. I have a ton of ideas for stories that I could write. Every time I think of a new one I open the "Notebook" on my iPad and quickly type it in before I forget it. I have so many ideas I don't know where to start. I don't even know if any of them are any good. A lot of them are just generic sci-fi/fantasy ideas that I want to put my own spin on. I can't decide if I want them to be serious, or if I want them to be funny. Ideally I'd like them to be similar in tone to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books. He has the perfect blend of laugh out loud funny, and deadly serious. I'm not really sure how to capture that without blatantly copying his style though.

9. Last, but not least, and probably the most unlikely of all my "Dreams" is that some day, I would like to be a voice actor. I have loved cartoons ever since I first watched Looney Tunes cartoons and Disney movies as a kid. If I could somehow lend my voice to an animated character, my life would be complete. I'd love to work on cartoons in general, but to actually voice a character, would be so awesome. :)

So, there's my list. I'm sure you learned at least one new thing about me. Hopefully you enjoyed it. If any of you are interested, you can find the link to my tumblr HERE. And if you know someone who you think would find my writing humorous, (They'd have to be quite the weirdo themselves... :p) share this blog, or my tumblr with them. I'd love for more people to be able to enjoy what I write. :)