Taking a bit from one of my favorite people on the internet.
. . . ever, Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day, I’ve decided to try and post up a group of little something called “Lifescout
Badges”, an idea by Mr. Day, or Nerimon on YouTube, to make Boy or Girlscout badges for things most human beings are generally
excited about as a means of motivation!
Here goes, and good luck not falling asleep *wink*:
Learning how to Archery
Most recently I took an Archery class with one of my best friends at our
town’s Olympic Training Centers. It was the absolute bomb, and I couldn’t have
enjoyed it more. We kept making LOTR and Brave references and took extra
delight in making the yellow Thandrul’s face.
Learning to ride a bike
I was about 13 I’ll say when I first learned how to ride a bike (yes, I was
old). I took my neighbor’s old rusted bike, about two sizes too big for me, and
tried to not crash into cars (a task more daunting than you can believe). I’ve
had past horrible experiences with bikes, including ramming into a car right
when a group of older boys were walking by. . . . that day was not a nice one.
I’m proud I actually got back on the bike after that, though.
Learning to swim
Oh man that was fun! I almost drowned that day, but I managed to “swim” to the
deep end of the pool and not die! I can’t remember how old I was, but it’s been
a while: during a family vacation (and by this I mean my immediate family plus
a boatload of extended family members) to a place called Muleje in Baja
California, Mexico, I was the one kid in a group of at least six that could not
swim. It was the first thing I sought to learn upon reaching the pool. Though I
didn’t win any races that year, I did finally earn passage onto the deep end
and that was good enough for me.
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Un peu. Je ne parle pas bien le français
(I totally know wtf this means). |
Learning a different language
English is not my first language! That’s not an uncommon thing here in the States,
actually, especially considering that my hometown’s a massively diverse area.
Yet I still hold some pride and resentment towards that five year old whom
refused to speak Spanish in school for the entirety of kindergarten just to be
able to speak in English with all the other kids in the neighborhood: I learned
English via Pokémon and “chick flicks”, yet I wasn’t allowed to take my school’s
bilingual classes, thus killing my ability to communicate in Spanish much
farther than the average helper in a business setting (believe it or not, it’s
not much. It makes me sad.) I’m currently taking French and took three years of
Japanese (don’t ask me to speak or type in either please! I’m terrible!)
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| Look at it! OMG it's got little stubby legs! :D |
Holding a snake
One of the first people I ever considered to be a friend was a proud owner of a
small snake. She was an absolute beauty we’d take care of together. I really
loved it as a kid, and remember it fondly now as a sort of adult.
Having a pet
We have owned a couple dogs at my house! Lots of dogs, actually. I want to try
my hand a cat at some point in life, particularly a Munchkin cat named
Napolecat (or Gatoleon in Spanish).
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We're also called the Urban Knights!
That's a pretty damn awesome name! |
Making it into collage
I made it into the Academy of Art University in San Francisco! Sure, that’s not
a big deal considering their lack of criteria, but to me it’s an important
first step! I wasn’t sure I even really wanted to go to College, despite my AP
class credits (I took ‘em for funsies). Finding a passion in animation set
things in motion for me, especially when I found out I sort of fit the bill
really well for what an animator should be—artistic, creative, attention to
detail, history nut, keen on diversity over routine, a bit of a tech nerd. I
found something and that’s important to me, less I’d refused to evolve as a
person at all.
 |
As proof, here's a busy
Street in SF herself! |
Going to San Francisco
I went to San Fran to visit the Collage I wanted to go to, actually, with my
best friend (whom will be dorming with me and eventually renting an apartment with
me). The city’s a gorgeous place, and definitely earns its’ reputation for
being one of the healthiest cities in America—the hills are ridiculous! You
cannot afford to eat junk food there, less you’re one of the elite few whom
have the luxury of being able to afford the parking meters (and even they
looked mad at the prices)! All in all, after you’ve found your way around, it’s
a small place, and rather cozy, yet still so much more vast than my own humble
hometown.
Moving out of Mom and Dad’s
This one’s a technicality, I think. . . .but I still think it’s an important
first step in my life. When I went to San Francisco to visit my collage, I got
sick on the last day and got scared. Because of this, I was silently crying on
the way back home, and it didn’t help that I had dropped my phone in the car
and thus lost communication to the rest of the world (and my parents, more
specifically my mother). So, partly for scholarships and partly for my own
sake, I moved into my older sister’s house. I set my own alarms, make my own
breakfast and dinner, and spend most of my days alone since my sister’s a
workaholic. Sure, my mother babysits my nephew and still takes me to school,
but I’m removing myself some, which I feel is important for me at the moment.
Going to Disneyland
Who, by God, in all the world doesn’t love Disney, or at the very least didn’t
love Disney at some point in their lives? I personally adore it! Every bit of i—well,
almost every bit of it. Despite being a national treasure of sorts, I don’t
think Disney’s too big to critique, but I digress. Disneyland’s a wonderful, beautiful place,
that in my mind never ceases to be amazing. As children, we’re all tricked to
believe it’s this magical kingdom where all dreams come true and no bad things
happen. As an older person, I’ve come to appreciate that trick. Bad things
happen all the time, but escapism never ceases to refresh the optimistic (and I
do this I’m pretty optimistic, for a pessimist).
Going to a party
I’m an antisocial schizoid, so parities are few and far between for me! I’m not
proud of the actions displayed by peers whom attend these parties with me (I’m
usually the killjoy in the corner, pretending not to know anybody), but in the
end it’s sort of lovely to see my friends having fun, even if it’s not the type
of fun I would normally have. In all their imperfections, my friends are
perfect and I enjoy seeing them like that—natural. A person never looks more
beautiful than they do while wearing their everyday expressions and walking in
everyday life. I seriously need a stalker camera to catch them in the act of
being beautiful.
Going to the Zoo
Zoos!! My hometown has a world-famous zoo, which I’ve visited over the years
and still greatly enjoy going to! As of late, I’ve only gone because of my
nephews and siblings, but I desperately want to go again to sketch out the
animals some. I love sketching out animals, and sometimes googling an image isn’t
enough of a challenge! XD
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Made the playbill and
drew up costumes. ;) |
Going to a school event
Again, I’m a bit of a schizoid so this is a rare activity for me: my best
friend was in a play*, which I actually had contributed a lot of my time to,
not to mention I knew a lot of people in the play and was close with the
teacher, so I was obliged to go. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Seeing those jolly
idiots spout Shakespere at each other might be the highlight of my senior year.
Going to Cancun
I got to go on my ninth birthday! My biggest memories were a) extending my
birthday to an entire week so I could get cake and “las mananitas” sung to me
at every restaurant, b) my cousin and uncle thoroughly annoying my older
sister, c) pretending I was old enough to drink with unalchoholic pina coladas,
d) meeting a little dude whom looked so much like my father we kept making “long-lost
son” jokes, and e) getting a stern talking to by a French lady whom was also
staying at our hotel, presumably over how “Madmuaselle” wouldn’t apply to a
woman of her age, and how I shouldn’t have been uttering French if I couldn’t
speak it!
Badges I still need to earn:
Visit New York
Visit Paris
Visit London
Successfully horseback ride
Hang-glide
Successfully blog
Successfully vlog, at least once in my life
Meet some of my “internet heroes”.
Collage
Finish at least SOME collage and get a job as an animator for a company somewhere
in the world
wind up working for Disney or Pixar
Sketch our animals at the zoo
Sketch out people in a natural habitat
*Gotta love the complete contradiction and utter disregard to mental disorders: A schizoid is, in common terms, a loner: they don't have many friends, seemingly have a lack of emotions, and tend to prefer solitary activity. . . . the more ya know! ;)
With love,
Nikola Strange.
