Temporary suspension.

I'll be suspending the 30-day challenge today and tomorrow as I will be out of town. Posts will resume on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can check out another, much shorter, rageface comic I made!

The rage of the Snarfblat.

I went without internet for a while, so this sat in Word for a day before I could get it up here. It's fairly long, so I understand if you don't want to read it (but you could at least skip to the comic 2/3 down and then the last paragraph).

Day 4: Your Parents.

I think I am an absolutely lucky person. Seriously, blessed beyond what I deserve. I have awesome parents. They tend to be weird sometimes, but they are AWESOME.

Take my mom, for example: She is a super classy lady: poised, well-dressed, and never remotely trashy or less than age-appropriate. She is an art teacher, and she likes gardening, mission trips, and spending time with her church friends. She also opens up her house at least once a week, every weekend, for all of my friends to come hang out. This has been going on for over a decade now. I’m crediting this to my mom, even though my dad makes most of the house payments, because she is the one who cleans before and after us. Every Saturday, she’s cleaning her house so my friends and I can come wreck it the next day.  And we used to be SO BAD about it. Cups EVERYWHERE, food EVERYWHERE. Did I mention she even cooks dinner four the lot of us (as much as 15 of us) every weekend? Because she does. And it is delicious.

Aside from my mom being a total classy lady who selflessly gives her time to her students, me and my friends, prison ministries, couples ministries, her church, and other missions, and being really smart in many areas, she has a great sense of humour and a wonderfully weird streak. Now, I probably couldn’t recall a joke she’s told me if you paid me because her sense of humour lies in sarcasm, witty remarks, etc. She’s funny in the moment, and doesn’t really store up any one-liners or stories for entertainment. My dad does all of that (but it’s my mom’s turn right now). And that weird streak…well, a nickname I never talked about was one she gave to me and my sister when we were very young. I think my dad had a hand in it; it was likely a joint effort, but it seems like something my mom would do. My parents called me “Snarfblat.” I don’t know what a Snarfblat is. I think it may refer to a rather formless blob of a person who is loud, obnoxious, and smelly, i.e. a baby. Or not. I don’t really know. But yes, I grew up being called Snarfblat.

UPDATE: I have discovered the term "Snarfblat" is what Scuttle the Seagull calls a pipe in the movie The Little Mermaid.

I am now less impressed with the creativity of my parents but still just as convinced of how weird they are. END OF UPDATE.

My mom is wonderfully weird in other ways, as well, but they’re mostly “you had to be there” situations. Beyond that, she is endlessly patient, loves pretty much everyone, ever, and super optimistic. She used to help me clean my room even though she had told me about 50 times before not to let it get so messy you had to wade through the junk. Which I did. Then I didn’t want to do it alone, so she helped.

Mostly, my mom taught me how to act like a lady (I totally do know how, mom, I just don’t like to always utilize my knowledge…), how to be patient, to use proper manners, and how to tell people politely to bug off, which is an invaluable skill everyone needs to learn to use and recognize.

And now we move on to my dad.

My dad is simultaneously inspiring, terrifying, and infuriating. My dad has been my Superman since as far back as I can remember. He is 6’ 3” and a big guy, so I always knew my dad could take anyone that was going to hurt me. He also has this huge, booming voice, and when you were in trouble, you knew it. All of my male friends were terrified of him. Note that I said “male friends” not “boyfriends,” though they were scared of him, too. For some of my friends, he has this way of appearing in the doorway any time they were going to say something inappropriate. Many were convinced he didn’t like them, which is completely not true. My dad just has a strict set of morals and sense of chivalry that people don’t often hold on to nowadays. He doesn’t bend those morals, either. He has a strong loyalty to his family, his church, and his friends, and I admire him for that. He also respects my mom, and I really respect him for that, because she really deserves it.

But sometimes I just want to throw things, he gets me so badly. Here is a frequent exchange (in technicolor, rageface format) between me (the time-waster, procrastinator, and person with no idea how time passes) and him (the always-on-time, my-way-or-the-highway one):

Yeah. That. Completely infuriating. This stopped for a while, when I moved out for college. When I moved back in with the parents, it started up again. I understand the reasoning: he wanted to know how late he should leave the door unlocked or the alarm turned off and at what point he should call the police should I be MIA. I just wanted to freaking do what I wanted to do without limitations. But now it doesn't happen anymore, much, because I just moved out of the house for real (to rent the house next door XD).

But I know my dad loves me. He’s been trying his best to give me the tools to be a successful, contributing member of society. And, for the most part, I have those now. Except at the moment, when I need to leave in 20 minutes, but I’m still in my pajamas (I love you, Dad).

One more thing about my dad: He is really funny. He has the fastest wit I’ve seen, and is so good at sarcasm, I’ve learned to doubt everything anyone is saying if it could be the least bit humourous. He also knows SO MANY JOKES. I think he lied about majoring in accounting; I think he majored in gorram comedy. The man knows one-liners, stories, riddles, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes GALORE, and probably has about four hundred funny stories from his lifetime. And if they weren’t funny then, he makes them funny now. I think a good sense of humour lets life be easier and more manageable. It helps us roll with the punches.

My dad has taught me that responsibility is important, and it lies on my shoulders; my life decisions are made by no one but me. I should always be on time, and even a bit early if I can help it, and that if you can’t learn to learn from then laugh at your mistakes then it will be really hard to be happy.

To wrap up: I have never heard my parents raise their voices (except my dad yelling at the hammer that smashed his finger, and even then he managed not to curse), I know they never end a day mad at each other if they can possibly help it, and I know they love me and my sister an absolutely ridiculous amount and would do anything to make sure we are prepared and happy in life. They are the awesomest parents ever in the history of parents.

Everyone should combine forces to make the Gordon-Levitt an actual unit of measure. That measures awesomeness.

Day 3: Your First Love
Did I skip a day? I feel like I skipped a day. Oh well, moving on.

My first "love" was probably my first grade crush, Adam. I don't have a picture of him, and if I did it would be weird that I have it and I would need to get his permission to use it. But I'm pretty sure, in first grade, he basically looked like this:

Please note: I will not ask Joseph Gordon-Levitt for permission to use his picture because he's famous and it's everywhere, I'm not using it to make money or connect him to any organization, and because he wouldn't answer (like he hasn't answered any of my 386 fan letters).

That's Adam, give or take a few Gordon-Levitts*.

He was totally my first kiss, maybe. Except possibly a guy in preschool before I got kicked out (a story for another post). He would insist in college that I was the one chasing him down and kissing him, like, everywhere, but I think his imagination has added some details. There was just the one in the morning attendance line, which was totally mutual. Probably.

So we ended up going to different schools for second grade, and when he arrived at my new school in third grade I basically thought we'd hook up again, since it was beyond our control that we got separated. But noooo, Chelsea** comes along and steals him away and it's just so drama. So we kind of had a falling out (that really ended up okay because we all moved on by the time we were super-grown-up fourth graders. We were really getting too old for that silliness, and my lady-friends and I had a Spice Girls tribute band to create) and traversed the rocky terrain of love denied for the rest of the year.

We reconnected recently, once in High School (and my friends and I completely scared him off because we are crazy), and again in college. I was really surprised we crossed paths on a campus of 30,000 students, but we did and it was very nice. I think, deep down, we still feel the uncertainty of a love lost...but time heals everything.

*Not an actual unit of measure, but still awesome.

**Chelsea is actually awesome and we became very close friends. She is in no way a person who breaks up relationships, especially fictional 3rd-grade ones.

Nicknames are names for lazy or unnecessarily creative people.

Day 2: Nicknames

I will take this opportunity to talk about screen names and nicknames in my life.
My first nickname I can recall was "Mich." Pretty standard. It was given to me in first grade by a fellow classmate whose name I think was Larry, but I can't remember, and his birthday was on Valentine's day. If he didn't assign that nickname, he's at least the one who used it the most.

Next we have Mikki, which came about in softball in late elementary school. Everyone on the team chose nicknames, and mine ended up being Mikki. I think I officially dropped it when I met a girl actually named Mikki in 6th or 7th grade. My friend Sharron still calls me that occasionally.

For a brief period in early high school, my art class all exchanged names, so I was Malcolm. It didn't last.

My brother calls me George because my Pirate name is 2-Eyed George. Yeah, my friends and I all gave each other Pirate names on the way to see the first Pirates of the Caribbean. Or maybe it wasn't that movie...but it was within the same year as Pirates.

Then there's Artist77. Super generic. I liked the number 77. Also, JesusFreakFive5, because I like the number 5 and the song Jesus Freak.

Ryoukai came from a browsing of cool-sounding Japanese words that weren't incredibly stupid. This one's only slightly stupid. What can I say, I was like 14. It's supposed to mean "Roger," as in, "Roger that!"

The Infamous Flatline was from my band in 10th grade. I think the other band member nicknames included Johnny Schiz, Grumpus McGumpus, or Grump McGump for short, Super Sexy Grandpa, and 2 more I can't recall. The Infamous Flatline was a joke inspired by the fact that I had literally zero interest in relationships of any kind. This has passed, as I have dated a few people since then, but I still use the name, or forms of it, just about everywhere online.

I also played RO for a while with the screen name Jazz Hands, because of this:

2 more:
In high school choir, I was called mini-Beth (or evil-Beth, depending on who you asked), because my sister (Beth) and I look very much alike though we are almost 3 years apart. She was, of course, in choir before me, and I was rather...exuberant.

And in colorguard in HS, I was called the Free Hand Nazi, because I was incredibly strict about the girls' free hands. They're important, dangit!!

"I'M SIGNIFICANT!" ...screamed the dust speck.

So I have moved out of my parents' house and gotten a real, full-time job. Life is going up! I thought I'd attempt a 30-day blog challenge. If I miss a day (which I very well might), I will simply resume on that day the next time I update.

Day 1: Introduction

Today, I will be officially introducing myself. My name is Michelle, I am 22, and I recently got a haircut I really like:

...in a picture I really don't like lol...smile much?

I am a graduate of Louisiana State University (GEAUX TIGERS) in Music Education. I just got my first full-time teaching job as of August 1st, and I am so pumped I can't even describe it. I have also just started a community choir in my area. That is also super exciting. Within the first day of advertising, I've gotten 22 people signed up.

I am a Jack of all Nerds (or a Nerd of all Trades, whichever you prefer) in that I am into numerous nerd-tacular things though I have mastered none of them. Some of my favourite nerdy topics are:

Video Games

Books (especially fantasy)

Role-Playing Games (Holla back for the Serenity RPG!)

Sci-fi shows and movies

Campy martial arts movies (this is a sort of recent development, though I have always admired Bruce Lee)

Comics & Manga

Anime

Superheroes (Hal Jordan & Wally West. They can just take me.)

Drawing

Music (because I like nerdy music like Wizard Rock and I am a music nerd. I could rant about Beethoven all day)

DIYing

Magic the Gathering

Pokemans!

And other things I can't recall offhand right now.

As you can imagine, being such a fan of so many things kind of spreads me thin when it comes to devoting myself to just a few of these things. That's one reason something like blogging is so hard for me to do: I just keep changing my focus!

I will count that as my first Interesting Fact. Here are the rest:

2. I have fixed a harmonica with my teeth.

3. Lady Gaga both inspires and repulses me. She inspires me because I like outrageous costumes. She repulses me because she relies too much on them. That woman can SING, but I don't think she uses her full range of ability.

4. I have the 50th Anniversary Batman board game. It is an okay game, and is better for novelty's sake than quality gameplay, but I'm excited I have it anyway because Batman is AWESOME.

5. I have knitted a sweater like Hal Jordan's Green Lantern costume, but have yet to sew on the actual Green Lantern logo, so many people don't know what it is.

6. I have designed sweaters for other superheroes as well. Nerdy knitters UNITE.

7. I never ever ever paint my nails or toenails, but my new roommate might persuade me to try it.

8. I really love Art Nouveau prints and posters.

9. I love posters! I have over 70 posters. And this is from not actively collecting them! I mean, just buying one or two a year, and getting a LOT as presents.

10. I have been known to dress as a Pirate spontaneously, with no apparent purpose (the true purpose being that it's just time to dress as a gorram Pirate).

11. Halloween is my favourite holiday, followed by Christmas. Halloween because, like I mentioned before, I love costumes. Christmas because people are generally nicer around Christmas-time, and I like to give people presents.

12. Speaking of presents, I feel hideously awkward opening presents in front of people who don't have presents, so I've started to do White Elephant gift exchanges at my birthday parties ($5 spending limit so everyone can participate). This way, everyone gets something, and there's no horribly awkward opening all my swag in front of people without any.

13. My birthday is in October, so I also try to have costume parties because it's close enough to Halloween that it still counts.

14. I have been fingerprinted at least three times.

15. I have never broken a bone or gotten caught breaking a law (and the only laws I've broken are typically traffic laws and the non-speeding ones are accidental. What can I say - women can't drive.**)

See you tomorrow!

*Kudos to anyone who gets the title's reference.

**Yes, I am aware that one's sex or gender has nothing to do with their capability to operate a vehicle.