Things

** Note: This post is unnecessarily long. I was just bored and kept thinking of things. I won’t be offended if you don’t read it all in one shot.

I don’t like choosing favorites. I think this is because I like to have options. To have all my bases covered.

For example, say I was a superhero. I would need to have a superhero power. Now, it would be really, really cool to be able to fly. I would love to fly. But what if your opponent could fly too? Well, you’re both at square one. You would need something else.

Or maybe you could turn invisible. But that doesn’t do a lot of good if your nemesis has sonar.

If you don’t get it, go read something else. I wrote a post about danceable tunes once. Maybe that would be more interesting.

Anyway, there are a few things that I am able to pick favorites from, either out of the lack of option, or because the favorite itself allows variability. Well, also because some of them aren’t a matter of as much importance as saving the world from your arch-nemesis.

Color is a good one. Your favorite color isn’t going to be a matter of life and death. It might be different if you were picking a color that you would have to wear for the rest of your life. But we’re not.

Even so, I do like almost all colors. In fact, the only ones I don’t really like are maroons, and the like. I don’t know why. They’re just ugly. And I’m not a purple person, though I like to say the word. I like the way it is in your mouth. But I don’t hate purple. I just don’t use it as often.

I would have to say that, even though my favorite color depends on the day, most days it’s blue.

Not this blue.

THIS blue. Powder blue just doesn’t cut it. I wonder sometimes what makes a person like a certain color. I think it’s something to do with the way the wavelength hits your eyes.

If I had to choose a super power, I do know what I would pick. I would want something sort of like the animorphs. That way there’s something for every occasion. Charging giant beast, flying away quickly, swimming, jumping, small and hiding, eavesdropping, frolicking, sneaking, copying someone’s thumb-print... everything you ever need to fight the bad guys can be had by changing into different kinds of animals.

Speaking of animorphs, I’m sad the library got rid of them. I wanted to read some again, just for old times sake. But they only had one left, and it wasn’t actually supposed to be there. I think they just missed it when they took them out.

And speaking of favorites, my favorite animorph was always Tobias. I don't really know why. I mean, he's cool, but they all are. I just always liked him most.

=> I remember particularly liking this one. I liked them all (except the ending. Wasn't happy with that.) But I this one was a more intense one, I think.

If I had to choose one sentimental thing to bring with me somewhere, like if we were refugees or something and only had room for one thing that wasn’t survival related, I would definitely take efalump. I don’t like going even normal places without him. A dramatic fleeing for our lives would be much worse without him.

But sometimes that’s not an option either. If I were to bring something sentimental, but it had to be really small, it would be sharky. He’s tiny enough to slip into a pocket, a shoe, or a waistband, but he’s still a little piece of home that would comfort me in a hard time.

Now, what if a robber were sneaking into my house in the night? If I needed to grab something protective that would be useful, but also easy to access, it would be this:

My giant wooden dowel. I have two, actually, but this one’s a little longer and heavier. I had them for a project that didn’t actually work out. So now I just keep them by my bedroom door.

Obviously, if I had a baseball bat that’s what I would use. But I don’t. Not to worry, though. I could crack a skull with that thing if it became necessary.

If I had a little more time, I’d go for this, of course:

The only deal with it is that I’d have to have time to quietly string it, grab an arrow from my shelf, and still have enough distance between me and the robber to use the ranged weapon advantage. Our hallway isn’t very long, and the kitchen doesn’t have much in it that a robber would want. He wouldn’t stay there long. The dowel trades the long range for quickness.

Well, add to that the fact that if I actually had to smash someone, it would be a lot easier to not accidentally do permanent damage. I can aim a batter’s swing a lot better than I can aim an arrow. Safer for both me and the robber.

On the other hand, though, I would very much like to be proficient in archery. While I would make sure to be versed in any weapon well enough to defend myself, I really think that my place on a battlefield would be with the archers. Assuming, of course, that magic is out. I would totally be a wizard in a fantasy battle. I enjoy exploding things WAY too much.

Let’s see... Oh, here’s a good one. PC or Mac? Definitely PC. You may think that a strange choice, since very few people would agree.

Here are my reasons: 1) I know pc’s. I’d have to learn a bunch of new things for mac usage, which I am too lazy to bother with. Not interested. 2) Macs are more expensive. 3)Macs are becoming so much more popular that I really feel like the fewer viruses thing won’t be a long lasting advantage. Sooner or later someone’s gonna tap that resource. 4) My pc has a 15 inch screen. Which I like. For that much screenage on a mac, you’d have to fork over the serious $$. 5) Compatibility. Yeah, yeah, I know people are coming up with more mac programs, like word and powerpoint and stuff. But they’re still not the same thing. They aren’t even compatible with each other. Forget working the same way. And even if they were the same, I don’t care about word. I don’t use it. None of the things I use my computer for would work on a mac except for making slideshows and checking the internet. This includes games.

Well, you get the idea.

Lion or a tiger? Definitely Tiger. Did you know that their skeletons are almost indistinguishable from each other? True. With that much similarity, it can be about what’s on the outside. And the outside of a tiger is a lot cooler than a lion. Lion’s just aren’t even pretty. And the male ones are just lazy. So lazy. Tigers are prettier, bigger, and they live in the jungle, which is really appealing to me. There are snow tigers too. More endangered than lions? Yeah, they are. But it’s because they’re prettier. People like their fur.

Favorite real animal? In case you can’t tell just by being in my room, it’s an Elephant. So many reasons. One, because I relate to them. I really imagine my patronus to be an elephant. Not just because they’re huge and could stampede dementors like they were toothpicks. That’s helpful though. I just wouldn’t feel safe with a kitten patronus, or an otter, or whatever. Lame, and not confidence inspiring.

But elephants are cool. They’re really chill. They play, they take mudbaths, they look at lions like they were scum. They’re the epitome of gentle giant mellow.

UNLESS you mess with their babies. I’m willing to bet that an angry mamma elephant charging at you is on the top ten list of scariest things ever.

I’m kinda like that, I think. Mellow to the max. Things just don’t bother me. I don’t get stressed out about much in life. Especially not about school, which might be a bad thing. But it got me through college a lot more enjoyably than most people can claim. On the other hand, though, you mess with someone like my sister, or my really close friends, you better believe that when I whack you with that dowel, you ain’t getting back up.

Favorite not so real animal? Dragons, no question. Some of them are similar reasons as liking elephants. But mostly I love dragons because they’re just awesome. Most of my favorite animals have huge teeth, horns, scales, claws, or something. Dragons are the epitome of all of that.

Plus I like fire.

Ooh, here’s a good one. Something from the past that’s been romanticized so much that it seems awesome, but wasn’t really? Like what would I love to experience? There’s a lot that would be cool. Jousting, widespread archery and swordfighting, living in a castle, etc. But I really have a thing for sailing ships. They just seem sooooo cool. I know it wouldn’t be exactly nice. But the idea of it is still cool, and ships are just pretty to look at especially. All the masts, and lines, and sails and stuff. They’re way awesome.

Favorite ninja turtle? For completely shallow reasons, it was always Leonardo. I liked the name better, I liked blue better, I liked swords better, and all that combined in Leonardo. Apparently he wasn’t a nice one, but my little kid brain didn’t remember that part. Rafael was probably second, for all the same reasons.

Donatello was the most boring to me because he was purple, his name was the least interesting, and all he had was a quarterstaff. Honestly, if you’ve got to kill bad guys, I just can’t imagine doing it with a thick stick. What do you do, just hit them until they’re a pulp? I understand from friends that he was actually the nicest one, though.

Once upon a time my favorite dinosaur was a Triceratops. I now know way too many to have just one favorite. Trikes are still my favorite Ornithischians though. I think it’s the horns. My favorite saurischians are the raptor family. Not velociraptors, necessarily. Too small. Deinonychus is cool though. And Utahraptor is pretty sweet, despite its unoriginal name. I also like supersaurus, but he’s only in the saurischian running because he’s freaking massive. He could probably knock a t-rex flat without having to even think about it.

<= This is the velociraptor from Jurassic park, and strictly speaking, the scale is all wrong. This fellow is more likely a deinonychus.

In the not strictly dinosaurian extinct stuff, megalodon is so awesome. Basically a great-white-esque shark so big that he could swallow a regular great white whole and not even realize it. Even whale sharks pale in comparison.

=> Artist interpretation, obviously, but the scale is accurate.

Legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys, blocks? Ooh... tough one. Each has their place and their uses. Depends on my mood, I think. But I’ll have to say legos, I think. They have the most versatility. Lincoln logs are good for buildings, and tinker toys are good for bridges and vehicles. I love blocks because the stuff you build with them has to actually be structurally sound to stay up. But You can do all of the above with legos, too.

Lightsaber color? Blue. And not because it’s my favorite color. Obi wan’s was blue, and so was one of luke’s. His other one was green. Qui gon’s was green too, and I really like him a lot. But I think I just have to stay with Obi Wan. I wouldn’t be opposed to a yellow one, though. Not because I like it better than green. I don’t really, as colors go. But because it’s yellow. Who else has a yellow one? The only person I can think of is just this one padawan girl that obi wan knew when he was younger. She died anyway.

If I could pick any instrument to be instantly awesome at? It’s really, really tempting to say guitar, because there’s a lot of call for that. You’re automatically cool if you can jam on the guitar. But I honestly would have to say that the Irish whistle, tin whistle, whatever the heck you want to call it, would be my choice. Multiple reasons. One, where the heck would you get lessons for that anyway? I might as well get guitar lessons, and be auto good at the tin whistle. But most of all, it’s incredible. Nothing in the world makes me feel more nostalgic, calm, at one with nature, and adventurous all at the same time, like a song with tin whistle in it.

This one is good. (I didn't make the video. I just really like the song, and happened to find this link to it.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZETxDFMRIE

There are other ones too, but I don’t feel like making movies out of them to load on here. Sorry.