50 Questions You’ve Probably Never Been Asked

Hello, friends! I’ve been spending a lot of time with my little family this week, since my mom is here visiting, so I haven’t had much time to focus on writing prompts, or vlogging, so I thought it might be fun to post these silly questions that I found online, and answer them. Just for fun. So here are 50 Questions You’ve Probably Never Been Asked!

1. What’s your favorite candle scent?
Despite not buying into the whole pumpkin spice everything craze that comes around autumn, I absolutely adore pumpkin spice candles. I love warm scents… and food scents. Pumpkin spice, or maple, or warm vanilla… mmm. *drools*

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?
My sister? Probably Anna Kendrick, or Emma Stone… but that’s a bit awkward, since I also want to marry them both. And Mila Kunis.

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
I can’t decide between Christian Kane, who played Eliot Spencer on Leverage, or Aldis Hodge, who played Hardison. I love them both.

4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married?
I am hoping to get married in the next year or two. We’ve actually been engaged for two years now, but we’re not in a rush to get to the altar!

5. Do you know a hoarder?
Thankfully, no.

6. Can you do a split?
Ugh, I used to be able to. Not so much these days.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
Really, really young. Maybe 4? I don’t remember!

8. How many oceans have you swam in?
I think just one!

9. How many countries have you been to?
Two! United States, and Canada.

10. Is anyone in your family in the army?
Hm… I don’t believe so. No.

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one?
We have a name picked out actually… not telling. Although, funny enough, I recently found out that it is the same first AND middle name as a famous YouTuber. Weird!

12. What would you name your son if you had one?
Our son’s name is Liam Thomas. But we do have another boy name picked out… and it may, or may not, be after a famous pirate.

13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test?
I’ve probably failed a few.

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
I used to looove Sesame Street! And Barney. As I got a bit older I got really into Rugrats, Hey! Arnold, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Goosebumps, Spongebob… so many!

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
I think probably a witch? I was a witch a lot. Or some kind of vampire sorceress.

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
Well, let me tell you, I was (and still am) obsessed with Harry Potter when I was in school. I am 26 now, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I read all the Twilight books in high school as well. Never read the Hunger Games books, only saw the movies.

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
BRITISH. Obviously.

18. Did your mother go to college?
She did!

19. Are your grandparents still married?
Actually, neither set are. Huh.

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
I went to karate once with my friend Kayla. Ages ago. It was fun!

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
Of course I do!

22. What’s the first amusement park you’ve been to?
Hmm… probably Funtown Splashtown in Maine.

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
I would love to be fluent in French, but realistically, Spanish is the way to go.

24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
Gray.

25. Is your father bald?
Nope, full head of hair at 51.

26. Do you know triplets?
Actually, I know one set! A million sets of twins as well.

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?
Honestly, neither.

28. Have you ever had Indian food?
Maybe once? I like curry.

29. What’s the name of your favorite restaurant?
I don’t have one. I do really enjoy Bonanza, Culver’s, and Steak ‘n Shake though.

30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden?
Yes, and it is overpriced, and not worth the hype. The last two times I went, in two different locations, we had bugs in our food. No joke.

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ’s, etc.)?
Nope.

32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?
That’s a really good question, I should ask my mom… I have no idea.

33. If you have a nickname, what is it?
Jan, Jan Jan, J, Super Jan… So original.

34. Who’s your favorite person in the world?
My son… though my fiance is a very close second. ❤

35. Would you rather live in a rural area, in the city, or in the suburbs?
Suburbs, but I actually enjoy the city as well.

36. Can you whistle?
No… and now you know my dirty secret.

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight?
Kind of. Our bathroom light stays on, with the door cracked, but mostly so I can see in the hallway if I have to get up with my son in the middle of the night. I like the dark. Sorta.

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning?
Usually, yeah, because I eat with my kiddo.

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily?
Tylenol, and a multi vitamin… because 26 is the new 46.

40. What medical conditions do you have?
None that I know of!

41. How many times have you been to the hospital?
A bunch of times when I was little for various flues and sicknesses, but never anything serious. I’ve never broken a bone, or even had a serious sprain, or any other injury. I was in a few car accidents with my mom, which warranted hospital visits, but I was always unharmed. Also, when I had my son, obviously.

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo?
Who hasn’t?!

43. Where do you buy your jeans?
JC Penny usually, or Target… that’s really it. My current favorite pair is actually from Maurice’s, but I can’t afford to shop there too often.

44. What’s the last compliment you got?
“Your son looks so much like you!” And he is pretty damn cute, so I’ll take it.

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?
Usually! I write them all down if I do, and type them out into my Dream Journal.

46. What flavor tea do you enjoy?
I’m not picky. I like all the tea!

47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own?
One pair of sneakers, which are following apart, and two pairs of boots, which it is way too hot to wear. I need new shoes…

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice?
I will not raise my children in any religion, but I also will not shelter them from the beliefs that exist. I will answer their questions honestly, and fairly, and allow them to make their own decisions on what they want to, or don’t want to, believe in when the time comes.

49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real?
… What? Santa isn’t real? HOW DARE YOU.

50. Do you have a Tumblr?
I do! You can click here to see it, but I haven’t been giving it much love lately. Sorry.

That’s it! Hope you guys enjoyed reading my answers. Feel free to copy and paste to your own blog of choice and fill in your own. It is just a fun way for people to get to know you more.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Jan

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Never Feed the Fucking Trolls

WARNING: Strong language.

Hello, friends. I have a general rule for myself when it comes to dealing with internet trolls: DO NOT interact with them. Don’t. Just don’t do it. Lately, I have been having a hard time abiding by this rule. With the current state of politics and the presidential race, as well as the women’s rights movement (International Women’s Day was just a few days ago), various LGBT rights movements, and other pro-equality movements going on, our nation has become a nation divided in the ugliest of ways. I am very upfront with my political and moral views, and most of you know than I am an Agnostic Atheist, who believes in equality for everyone. I am not only an LGBT ally, but also a Pansexual woman, and member of the community. I am also a feminist, and a Liberal. I don’t really care if you dislike me for those reasons, because your close-mindedness does not effect me, and I don’t want you in my life if you choose to judge me based on those facts. For just these reasons alone, I have been judged very critically by complete strangers who know absolutely nothing about me, and who throw wild generalizations at me, and that isn’t fair.

I have been called everything from a libtard, feminazi, fag lover, and so much more… all because I believe in basic, human rights and equality for everyone, which apparently, is an awful thing. Who knew?

For the last several days, I have been engaged in a handful of online comment wars, spanning across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Sometimes, I am guilty of being a bit of an instigator, but more often than not, I simply voiced my appreciation on a topic. I am not a troll. I do not scour the web in search of things that I wholly disagree with with every fiber of my being, just to jump into the comment section and spew ignorance and hatred on the subject. I also rarely skim through comments in search of someone who supports said topic, just to call them names and trash their opinions. I don’t make a habit of fucking attacking people on a personal level just because I disagree with something they say on the internet.

Apparently, I am a minority when it comes to this sort of behavior, because people online are fucking assholes. Shocking, I know!

Recently, an LGBT/equality page that I follow on Facebook posted the following picture:

This graphic was posted on International Women’s Day, and while it did received a ton of praise from the LGBT community and its allies, it also received a lot of backlash from a lot of people who knew very little on the subject, and really had nothing of value to input other than “Fuck Caitlyn Jenner!” or “Until you’ve had a child you’re not REALLY a woman.”, both of which have nothing to do with what was said. The latter isn’t even a correct statement.

I posted the following two comments beneath the photo:

Both comments received more positive feedback than negative, but there were a few people that had apparently just had a bad day, and wanted to tear everyone on this page apart for no reason. There were even a few commenters that were clearly fake accounts, created for the sole purpose of trying to hurt other people who disagreed with their views. Others had nothing of value to say other than calling me ridiculous names, or paraphrasing the Bible in all caps, WHICH AS WE ALL KNOW MAKES YOU SOUND SO MUCH MORE INTELLIGENT.

Why? WHY? What could you possibly get out of doing something like that? You are about as unlikely to change my way of thinking as I am to change yours, and that’s why I don’t waste my fucking time.

On a day that was for celebrating ALL women, there were feminists who wanted nothing more than to point out how they felt that trans women weren’t women, and gave them no support at all. There were civil rights activists, and #BlackLivesMatter activists, talking about how trans people, as well as the LGBT community in general, did not deserve rights, let alone to be recognized in a holiday. This lead me into several, one-sided, heated “debates” (I can’t even really call them that, because only one side had anything logical to contribute) across all of my social media platforms, that I let get to me. I couldn’t stop.

I let these trolling, immature, ignorant, terrible people get to me. I broke my own rule. And boy, did it get me fired up.

How can people actually think like that? It is 2016! How can you still have so much hate in your heart that you think it is okay to hurt people like that? I’m not even a member of the trans community, but as a woman who has struggled with her sexual identity for many years, I can certainly tell you how hard it is to KNOW that you one thing, but have everyone around you tell you that you aren’t, for a whole list of bullshit reasons. What if you were black, and people told you that you weren’t black enough, because of your eye or hair color? Telling you that you weren’t what you KNEW you were, what you were meant to be, because you didn’t look like it on the outside? That would hurt. You would be stuck feeling like you don’t belong on either side of the tracks, and it would tear you apart.

No one deserves to feel that way.

There are people who use sources like the Bible to back up their behavior, thinking that they are doing their god’s work in tearing down and hurting these people, because they disagree with how they live their lives, and that is WRONG. But even more wrong are the people who have absolutely no reason to hate these people, and choose to anyway.

Hatred is a choice.
Sexuality, gender dysphoria, and race are not.

If you want equality for women, or African Americans, or Latinos, but not for your brothers and sisters in the LGBT community, then you want privilege. Not equality. Those are not the same thing.

PSA: Just because something is not YOUR problem, does not mean it is not an important problem for others.

I’m so done. Back to my happy place.

Jan

[Just now, as I finish writing this, I am reading the comments beneath Ingrid Nilsen’s latest video on public bathrooms and gender identity, and it is honestly making me want to scream and rip my hair out. I fucking hate people.]

Daily Prompt 2/11/2016 | Under My Skin

The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt 2/11/2016 | Quirk of Habit

“Which quirky habit annoys you the most, and what quirky habit do you love — in yourself, or others.”

Strangely enough, peoples’ various quirks don’t bother me all that much. There are a few things that I would prefer that people refrain from doing around me, but nothing too crazy. I’ve seen people get physically angry at someone smacking their gum, or clicking a pen, or constantly clearing phlegm from their throats (okay, that one is pretty gross though…), but I’m just not one of those people. I’m not perfect, and I know I probably do things that might annoy other peoples, and I’m okay with that.

I do enjoy when people are kind, and do nice things for others, without being given orders to do so. I greatly admire people in the medical community, specifically doctors and nurses, who give up sleep, sanity, and often times family, to help others. I admire volunteers, whether it be once a month at a food kitchen, or every day at an animal shelter. People who sacrifice a little bit from their lives to improve the lives of others. Those people are just wonderful.

So, habits don’t bother me, but I guess you could say certain personalities do. Even certain, tiny aspects of peoples’ personalities. Is that a habit? I actually don’t know. Let me just give you a few examples of things that do get to me, and be warned, this is going to get a bit ranty, and may likely offend someone.

1) When teenage girls refer to a grown man, who is a complete stranger, as “daddy” on the internet, and says things like “fuck me“. I specifically see this on Facebook/Twitter/YouTube, directed at YouTubers, or musicians, etc., and it is SO creepy. Now, I’m no prude, and I’m definitely not going to judge grown men and women who call their partners “mommy” or “daddy“, or any variation of the two, in the bedroom, because that is none of my business. But when a 12-year old girl comments on a 29-year old YouTuber’s Instagram selfie with “OMG daddy fuck me“, I get concerned. Where the hell are the parents? Who is teaching them this? Ugh. That really gets to me. It is just so unhealthy.

Related irks: People who obsessively “ship” two real people, young teenagers writing VERY smutty fanfiction, stalkers.

2) People who blatantly fish for compliments. I’ll be the first to admit that I have low self-esteem, and I know there are many out there who feel the same way about themselves. Recently, on Facebook, a friend of a friend shared an image of a piece of paper that simple said “Share this if your ugly!“. Grammatical error aside, things like this piss me off, because this is 110% for attention. The ONLY reason to post something like this is to get responses like, “Aww, no, you’re beautiful!” but this is the wrong way to do it, and it just irks people, and makes you look insane. The kicker in this situation was that the girl was GORGEOUS, and upon further snooping, I discovered that she is actually a MODEL. Are you joking? No. Just stop.

3) People who constantly butt into other peoples’ issues and problems. As many of you know, we recently had to deal with some stupid, family drama surrounding the Dodge Journey that we received from Kyle’s aunt. Well, as of last night, we got a new car (that gorgeous Lincoln LS), and Kyle’s mom took the Journey off our hands to use as a second vehicle. But just a few days prior, our drama reached a boiling point, when Kyle’s grandmother poked her nose into a matter that did not concern her, and tried to play middle woman, but ended up twisting everything that Kyle said, passing along false information (lies), and ultimately made the whole situation 10000% worse. In the end, Kyle ended up blocking his grandmother, and both of his aunts, and we most likely won’t be attending Christmas this year. Ugh. If a problem has nothing to do with you, then leave it alone. If it is not directly affecting your life, then butt out, and let the other parties sort it out.

And now… the big one. I’ll apologize ahead of time. Sorry.

4) I’m not religious, but I am also not disrespectful towards people tho choose to believe in what they believe in, as long as they are not forcing those beliefs on others in order to control them and their lives. We’re all living on this planet together, and life is too short to hate on someone for believing in something different. With that being said, one of the things that bothers me more than ANYTHING else, is people who use the Bible to justify their hatred of something, i.e. homosexuality, but cherry-pick through the rest of the sins, simply because they want to do them. You all know what I’m talking about. Saying that you hate homosexuality because it is an abomination, because the Bible says so, but being guilty of ANY of the following, makes you a hypocrite:

Divorce/Adultery.
Love of money.
Any of the following dietary abominations: eating shellfish, eating many kinds of birds, eating anything that has many legs, or stands on four legs, and eating and touching PORK!
A woman wearing PANTS.
LYING, guys. That’s a big one!
Arrogance.
Blatantly ignoring the law.
Wearing mixed fabrics.
Getting a HAIRCUT, or shaving your beard.

So, if you’ve done any of those things, which I know you have, guess what? Those are all considered just as sinful as homosexuality. Those are abominations, according to the book that you quote from, to prevent two people who love each other from getting married, or living happily. You can’t pick and choose what things to be an asshole about, just because you like to eat shrimp, and think that two men kissing is icky, or unnatural. Guess what? There are over 1,500 species of animals that display homosexual behavior, and many of these species are older than the human race. You can’t get any more natural than nature, folks. So, I’m sorry, but that just isn’t how it works.

Now, if I remember anything from my time in the Brownies, I seem to recall that the original book was written with no punctuation, and was completely open to interpretation, and has changed so many times throughout the years, to fit the specific beliefs of whomever was interpreting it. If this is correct, then couldn’t it be possible that many of these things, as well as homosexuality, were not originally meant to be labelled as abominations, but the words were misinterpreted as such? Just something to consider.

As I said before, I personally don’t believe in any of this. I lead a life free of religion. I do believe that, as long as you aren’t hurting anyone, or infringing on someone’s legal and human rights, then everyone deserves to be happy. But you need to understand that there are so many religions that are practiced on this earth, and not everyone believes in yours, and they all have different rules, which are open to interpretation, and we are all live vastly different lives, and just accept that. Stop thinking that just because someone chooses to believe differently, or acknowledge different things, that you and your beliefs are being threatened. Relax, folks. I do apologize if this offended anyone, but if it did, then maybe you have some things you need to think about?

Anyway, I’m done. Those are some of the big ones for me. I’m not trying to start a debate in the comments, or attack anyone’s beliefs, I’m just trying to tell you things how I see and interpret them.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan

Daily Prompt 1/18/2016 | Beliefs

The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt | Reason to Believe

“In Reason to Believe, Bruce Springsteen sings, ‘At the end of every hard-earned day / people find some reason to believe.’ What’s your reason to believe?”

I’m an Agnostic Atheist… so, this is awkward.

I have no religious beliefs. I respect your beliefs, and even admire people who choose to believe in something higher than themselves, but I just can’t. At the end of the day, regardless of how your day went, there are so many people being murdered and abused, being kidnapped and sold, starving on the street. There is so much suffering in the world, and nothing is being done. No matter how many people pray to their respective gods and goddesses, nothing is being done. Every day, the world dies a little more, the humanity becomes more and more dangerous.

I choose not to believe. I choose not to believe in any deity that would give babies cancer, and allow men to hurt women, and control them for their own gain. I choose not to believe in a religion, or a deity, that would condemn two people to death simply for loving each other. A deity that would punish people, for not believing in them, for whatever reason, by killing thousands of innocent people with hurricanes and tornadoes. Not that I believe that any of these things are caused by a god, but if they were… why would they do that? It’s cruel, and terrible, and unnecessary. I would not put my faith in someone who caused that kind of pain.

My grandmother, who is very religious, once told me that anyone who does not accept God into their lives will never have a life of happiness or meaning, and will always be an empty shell. That is just an awful, hurtful thing to say to anybody, especially someone you love, just because they do not share your beliefs. How can you possibly feel that way? I’ve also heard her say vile things about babies and children, whose parents chose not to get them baptized. A baby.

Let’s not forget that religious strife has caused countless deaths since… ever? It still does today! People justify murder and brutality because a book says that two men being together is icky? So you should kill them? Or that a woman’s opinions, feelings, and rights don’t matter, because she would once have been considered property? Some men still consider women property. That is not right.

No. I choose to believe that we carve our own path, and that our actions are our own, and that we should be held accountable for them. I don’t need any sort of belief, or fear of damnation, to be a good person, and do good things. I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I just think people should respect and look out for each other, and that you probably shouldn’t go around causing harm for no reason. I don’t need a book to tell me what is right and wrong. We are all stuck on this planet together, at least for the time being, and we are all human. We all deserve love, respect, and freedom to be who we were born to be, without fear of persecution or death. If you need to seek answers in a high power, and if that gives you comfort, then by all means, live your life.

But for me, I choose to believe in myself, and my ability to determine right and wrong. I choose love over hate, and acceptance over discrimination. And I will not let anyone change that. Now… do I know for certain that Zeus, Hades, Osiris, Odin, etc. do not/did not exist? No, I do not. But is there tangible proof that they did/do. No.

This is why, at the end of the day, I choose not to believe. If my son grows up and has questions about religion, or wants to attend the church of his choosing, then I won’t stop him. But I also won’t lie to him. I feel that people should be free to choose who, or what, they want to put their faith in, without fear of judgement. I have friends and loved ones who have devoted their lives to their religions, and they are amazing, fulfilled people. I have friends who share my beliefs (or lack of), and are just as happy and fulfilled. I also know devout individuals who are completely miserable, and vice versa.

Be who you are, live fearlessly, and strive for happiness. Just… don’t kill people, okay? Be nice. Love thy neighbor, and all that.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan