7 posts tagged “qotd”

"How did you meet your current, or most recent, significant other?"

I met my other-half in High School..  He was popular, funny, and clever..  I never thought he'd look twice at me. 

But he knew my name.  And even when he was in a crowd of people who didn't bother to acknowledge me, he would always speak to me. 

I thought he had a fantastic bottom - but it never even occured to me that there might be a chance of a relationship.

I went on holiday with a group of friends - mainly male - who he played football with occasionally.  He was invited too.. 

I confided in my best friend - who advised me against getting involved while we were abroad.  He was right - afterall, it's easy to get carried away on holiday.  But we'd have to come home at some point..

He'd been on a few dates with another girl before we went abroad - but he'd told her that he simply wasn't ready for a relationship..

I'd just come out of a particularly negative relationship, and certainly didn't want to get into anything (other than perhaps His pants..) serious.. 

After a week abroad - spent flirting and being generally unable to keep our hands off each other..  It finally happened.  We kissed, in a dirty, damp Spanish bar - and stayed up until the small hours, sat on cold, concrete steps.  We must have been freezing, but we didn't notice at all..

We spent the last week of our holiday tip-toeing around everyone - sneaking off together for snatched moments in private.. 

We were starting something which would cause problems.  And we knew that from the start.  But, we were, and are, both completely aware of the issues we would cause by embarking on a relationship together. 

I come from a religous family.. And so does He..  The problem?  Two different religions.  Two different cultures.  Two different familes. 

Right from the beginning, we knew what we would have to face..  We talked about it, and there was no question in my mind.  I knew that I was prepared to take anything that was thrown at us, and so was he.

We were lucky, really..  We dealt with a bit of staring, a bit of name-calling and over-dramatic idiots picking fights..  But nothing serious, really..  Infact, we have given each other more to deal with than anyone else has ever given us.  We have dealt with situations that we never imagined we would have to..  But we've stuck together, confident that we'd find a solution somehow..  We've learnt an important lesson - that not every problem can be fixed.  And while we've struggled to deal with all sorts - depression, death, spending a great deal of our relationship in a long-distance situation - we haven't always found the solution.  But we cope..  We always find a way through.
 

We are an interracial couple.
Interracial.  I used to hate that word.

Now, I don't care what people want to refer to us as..  Our skin colour differs, our religions differ, our opinions usually differ..  Our favourite drinks, clubs, music, food, bars.. They all differ.  Everything about us differs..  It isn't 'race' that sets us apart as 'different'.  Every single thing about us sets us apart as different..

But we walk down the same road.  We have the same goals..  He will watch crap movies with me, and I'll pretend to be interested in the terrible music he listens to..   Most importantly, the fact that we are different helps us to deal with situations we face..  He is non-confrontational, he thinks before he speaks..  I storm in and take immediate action - then think.  As horribly slushy as it sounds - he really is the other-half..  And together, we can cope with almost anything.

Almost five years after we kissed in Spain..  The other-half and I, we are still drastically different..  Our situations are different, our relationship is different.. But we have stayed the same - still irretrieveably different.  Still madly in love.

We are not an interracial couple. 
We are not defined by the colour of our skin, or our religion.. 

We want the same things - we want children who are loved and who are educated about religion.  We want to bring our children up to be tolerant, understanding and open minded. 

We want to eat Thai and sit in fancy bars, discussing everything and nothing - all at once.. 

We want to hold hands on that beach again, and be reminded that we still have our whole lives ahead of us.  Nothing has changed since that very first day.  I still think he has the best bottom I've ever seen, I still can't keep my hands off him (even after doing his laundry and putting up with his snoring for years!), and I still think he's the most awe inspiring person I know...

He's away now - travelling, making a difference to people who are ill, and less fortunate than ourselves..   I miss him more than I could ever have imagined.. But, I have never been so proud of anyone in all my life

Always..

What song best describes your current mood?
Submitted by Section31.

The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore

What's the most memorable building you've lived in?

The house I remember most fondly is my grandparents old house, where I spent a lot of time growing up.  The house was huge, with lots of rooms, a cellar and an attic - huge bay windows in the rooms downstairs.  Their garden was enormous, with a fish pond and swings (and garden gnomes hidden amongst the flowers!).  I always thought there was something magical about the garden as a kid, although I never really appreciated the house for what it was.  When my Granddad passed away, my Grandma stayed in the house for a while, until she eventually became too ill to cope with the size of it.  The house was sold, and the man who bought it has built another house in the garden of the house..  I guess he got planning permission.  Everytime I drive past the house, I cringe and wonder if he realised what he'd done when he shoved a bulldozer through one of the very few big and beautiful gardens that the houses in our city have.  Asshole.

The house I'm living in now, will probably be the most memorable, in time to come.  It's my first home, although not my first place-of-my-own.  I've rented houses and flats before, but this is the first house that I've ever owned, and that's got to be pretty memorable.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

I'm a night owl, through and through.. Even as a baby, I never slept when I was put to bed, I never stayed asleep for long once I'd dropped off..

And now, I struggle to get to sleep.  But once I'm asleep, I don't want to get up again! 

I'm definately not a morning person.. Infact, people have been known to refer to me as 'the dragon' in the morning!  I need a truckload of caffeine, a cigarette, and peace and quiet to sit and wake up to.  Anyone who dares to come between me and those things - or anyone who dares to approach me before I've had those three things - will be undoubtedly CRUSHED. 

In a previous job I worked shifts, and night shifts were a God-send to me.. I would happily work until 7am, then go home, sleep at 9am, get up around lunch time, and get ready for the shift to start again at nine.  It suited me perfectly..  For some reason, I seem to struggle to sleep at 'proper' times, but I could always get to sleep easily once it was light.  Strange!

And now, working normal hours and not shift work - I just end up getting by on a couple of hours sleep, and making up for it at the weekend.  I find that if I'm kept busy, I don't feel tired.  It's once you stop buzzing about that it hits you!

What's the last thing you crafted, constructed or created yourself?

The most recent thing I've created - plans for my back garden :)  Properly drawn out, decisive plans.  I'm very proud, I don't do decisive!  But, it's all planned on, on squared paper.. Waiting for a nice strong man to come and help me with turning my plans into a garden.

I like to think that I'm a creative person..  I try approach things as creatively as possible, and I'm always looking for inspiration.  I can draw (albeit not very well, but I try!), I can write - prose and contemporary poetry.  I've become utterly addicted to interior design, despite having no interiors left to design..  I love creative thinking - philosophy and the philosophy of religion particularly..  Most of all, I love turning simple things into something creative.  You haven't lived until you've shown a child how to make potato prints and how to paint with their feet.  ;) 

So yes, I think I'm a little bit crafty.. But my mum is the master of crafting.  She makes handmade cards, she can paint, she can draw perfectly.. She can make her own clothes, arrange flowers, design interiors, braid hair, make jewelry.. And she tells stories in such a way that makes you really believe that you're in them - I was absolutely enthralled by her stories when I was little (if I'm honest, even now, when I hear her reading them to children, I'm still enthralled!).. The list is endless.  I really think there is nothing that she can't do when it comes to creative things. 

My mother is truly artistic, and truly inspirational.  While I'm nowhere near as creative as she is, she inspires me (even with my blatant lack of patience and intolerance for fiddly little things) to at least try.

I can't wait to get started on my back garden..  See, this is where my mothers creative ability comes in!  Yes, I need a big strong man do mix the cement, etc.. And sure, I can draw out the plans, and I can put down on paper exactly how I want things to look.. But, I know nothing about plants.  Infact, I have absolutely no desire to learn.  I hate gardening.  Passionately.  So, with my ability to put down on paper exactly what I want, and her ability to choose the right (whatever right is..) plants/flowers to put where - we'll somehow turn that garden into something which doesn't look like something the QUEEN of all anti-gardeners designed!

My favourite accent, without a doubt, is the Scottish accent... But only in men.  I have to say, I don't find it a particularly sexy accent in women.. But in men?  My GOD.  Yes please.  I'd have given my soul to have sex with Mel Gibson, as William Wallace in Braveheart..

French accents are incredibly sexy..  In both men and women, actually.. I think the French language is beautiful, but the accent just sounds down right dirty.  And I love that!  Really, I suppose most accents can be sexy, or at the very least - attractive.. It's more to do with the person's voice I suppose.. That deep-raspy masculine voice can be sexy in any accent. ;)  Except the Geordie accent.. Or the Liverpudlian accent.. Definately!  :)

I have a boring British accent, which isn't quite Yorkshire, and isn't quite Lancashire..  But is absolutely Northern.  So basically, I lack any kind of sterotypical British 'poshness' in my voice..  I don't particularly like British accents, but I've known a few British men with that raspy-deep Tom Selleck style voice (yes I realise he's not British, but he has a raspy voice - that's the point!).  Hugh Grant's accent is incredibly sexy.. But he seems to try just a little too hard to be stereotypically British.  I blame him (and I suppose the media, too.. But mostly just him..) for the entire world seeming to believe that all British people eat Scones and drink tea, and were born with a silver spoon in their mouth..  And believe me, we don't!  Britain has many varied accents..  And I don't actually like many of them.. :)

There are two particular quotes that stick in my mind..

"Love is blind, friendship closes its eyes." - English Proverb.

I wrote an entry a few days ago, about my relationship with my best friend.. And my thoughts still stand.  A true friend will stand by you, no matter what happens.  Even when they think you're wrong.  

"Whenever you fall, pick up something." - Oswald Theodore Avery.

A typical cliche.. But, I believe that you can learn from every negative experience, and thus turn that experience into something positive.  Whether you learn something about yourself, or someone else - there's always something positive that you can take from a negative situation.

Another quote, which isn't necessarily one which I 'live by', but one which inspires me:
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein.

In my opinion, Einstein is wrong.. Imagination and Knowledge are inextricable.  Or should be.  Someone with imagination and no knowledge, is simply a daydreamer.  Someone with knowledge and no imagination, is a bore.  But someone who can apply knowledge with imagination and creative flair, is truly inspiring.  I try and tackle every challenge with both of these things.. Try being the operative word, but still. :)