25 Random Things Part Vier (that’s “four” in German, just in case you didn’t know)

I really can’t believe how much mileage I’ve gotten out of this whole “I have nothing to say and am dredging up things from two years ago in a desperate attempt to get a post written” thing! Here we are on day four, representing the continuation of posts from Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So here we go – the final post on this, I promise. Well, I promise until I get stuck again and can’t figure out what to say and have to shamelessly steal from my own self, that is… 😉

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25 Random Things (continued)
by Jill Arent on Wednesday, May 19, 2011 at 10:26pm (well, that’s when it started – I actually wrote this half on Thursday at 10:08am, but waited to post it to avoid Jillism overload)

14. I have the craziest temper. Some things just roll off my back, no worries, all relaxed, whatever… Some things build slowly over time – I almost don’t even know it’s happening, and then all of a sudden after six months I am furiously angry over the accumulated value. And some things just set me off in an instant. There’s really no rhyme or reason to it that I can detect, either. Very odd and not altogether fun for those around me either. Eek, she said! One good thing though – my anger is usually very short lived and of the non-grudge-carrying kind. So I guess that’s something!

15. Technology hates me. Seriously. For me and only me, cell phones won’t work right, internet connections will slow or drop altogether, remotes will refuse to change channels, signals will cross mysteriously, on/off buttons will lock, errors will be produced… It’s ridiculous. I don’t hate tech. Why does it hate me?!

16. I have the most intense dreams. They are in full living color, complete with sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and moods. They are often bizarre and disturbing, but even when they are banal and commonplace, I will wake up from them and the next several hours will be spent as though the dream things actually happened. That is, if I was scared and my heart pounding in the dream, I will wake with a pulse through the roof and have to turn all the lights on; if I was sad and crying, I will wake with wet cheeks and feel blue and depressed for the rest of the day. I will encounter people in my dreams that I have not seen/thought of for years – people that have no business in my subconscious because they played no real role in my life, people that I last saw as children. I often cannot for the life of me imagine what could have triggered their appearance in my mind. I will have conversations with people in my dreams that are so vivid that when I run into those people at some random point during the next day/so I will reference them and cannot understand why the people never know what I’m talking about or saying… It’s great on one hand – I’ve gotten a lot of my book/story ideas from dreams – but not so great on the other, because it doesn’t really lead to very restful sleep!

17. My favorite color these days is orange. Then green, then blue, then black.

18. I hate doing yardwork. I have a slew of it that needs doing – trimming, edging, cutting down the dying spring flowers, mulching – and cannot for the life of me gin up any interest in actually doing it. It has been raining what seems like a veritable deluge on and off for days, and it is a sunny nice day today – I should be outside working in the fresh air. But all I want to do is sit inside and read my book. So I think I will. But know that I do feel badly about the yard. I do. Really. Just not badly enough to do anything about it. (teehee)

19. I am addicted to diet coke. Seriously. I drink cans of it the way other people drink cups of coffee or smoke cigarettes. I drink it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If I don’t have it, I get caffeine headaches. And get cranky. Very cranky.

20. I sometimes suddenly feel the need to cry for no apparent reason. I guess it’s like the spit-valve on a trumpet – after you’ve been playing along for a while, you just get over-full and have to drain. (What a gross but surprisingly apt metaphor, she said.)

21. I love playing Nancy Drew games on my computer. Love them. If you aren’t familiar, I cannot advise you strongly enough to check them out. They are as fun as the books. You are Nan, and go on tremendous adventures (some of which are based on the books – including “The Secret of the Old Clock,” the first one!) in very cool places and have to solve all kinds of puzzles and get to interact with Bess and George and Ned. I am a beta-tester of these games for the developers (teehee) and am insanely and ridiculously pleased with myself because I get free copies of the games before other people.

22. I am such a dork. Good lord, I just stopped to re-read what I have written so far. Honestly, I am the most bizarre cross between a grown woman and a ten-year old child that I have ever known. I am completely serious and focused one minute, and all-over-the-place random the next. Some days I think it really is a miracle I survived as long as I did by myself…

23. That said, I like myself. I don’t care that I am a dork. I like what I like, when I like it, and (usually) have no problems admitting this – as you can probably tell by the fact that I’m posting it all online. For my dozens of readers. (teehee)

24. I occasionally quote old television lines as though they were my own original clever thoughts/observations. Especially if they are from random shows that I doubt my listener(s) will be familiar with or will have remembered. I can’t help it – I am in love with clever uses of language, and when I find them, I like to share them. I will usually (eventually) admit that the words were not my own and that I “borrowed” them from an old sit-com or comedy – but sometimes I don’t. That is not very nice of me. But I do it anyway.

25. I recently discovered that someone took one of my book reviews verbatim and posted it on their blog. (I’m not going to say who/which blog, because the last thing I want to do is give them even more traffic.) Granted, they said “Jill Elizabeth of “All Things Jill-Elizabeth” said:” and then posted it. But still. They did not reference my site/provide any way to find me or verify my remarks or ask my permission – which I would have certainly granted as long as they referenced my site and didn’t misquote me. They just posted it as though I had been asked for my opinion and offered it. And guess what – there’s naught to be done for/about it. The site has no comment or contact us feature that works without being logged in – and there’s no way to register/log in. Nice. I spend a lot of time and effort coming up with reviews and writings, and don’t like that someone can just take them and reprint them without asking or properly citing me. Grr, she said.

On that annoyed note, I am pleased to announce the conclusion (for now) of the Four Part Series on Random Things. Teehee – I still can’t believe how much mileage I ended up getting out of stuff I dredged up when I had nothing to say… Hooray for the power of words!