#hellogoodbyegirl

[northwestofinsanity]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers 💜

Thanks for asking!

1- My cats back at home! And some pets in my local extended family. My brown tabby, Sylvie May, is a nervous wreck, but oh-so-sweet, and my Lynxpoint, Charlotte, is a beauty who came to me by way of many, many stars of chance life events lining up… and probably the most unique cat I’ve owned. (When she brings toys and asks to play fetch is so endearing!) And my older cousin’s black cat, Diana, has a special place in my heart as my little chronic, immune-mediated anemia fighter. Caring for her and working out her case with my lead doctor and boss, and seeing her exceed her prognosis has been so amazing.

2- Music -whether I’m just listening to it, driving while listening to something that fits really well, or experiencing the satisfaction of figuring out how to play something I love by ear. Life became so much better when I began discovering some of my favorite artists.

3- My family -both immediate and extended. I didn’t have many friends in my childhood, so I’m grateful to have wonderful cousins and for all the fun times we’ve had together, and my aunt, who has really just been my hero since as long as I can ever remember!

4- My “work family”. I know that term sometimes gets used in a lot of toxic environments, and I’ve definitely had coworkers that came and went who weren’t very nice. But there are a few who I was with through thick and thin for a few years, and we some of them really are the sisters I never had.

5- My online friends. There’s a lot of negative sides to internet culture, but when a real friendship comes out of it, I think that’s just one of the most beautiful things within it all -that by chance, out of millions of people online, at least two people happened to cross paths in the right way at the right time to make a connection that might have never happened by any other means. To be able to say I have them is something I consider myself incredibly lucky for.

[frootyrooties]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers 💜

1. Eric Stewart

2. 10cc

3. my mum

4. croissants

5. Eric Stewart (his belly)

[hellogoodbyegirl]

FYI:

foxxycurriespice -> hellogoodbyegirl

[spoiledstrawberry]

For the ask game: 📷🍫🍪🐸

Thanks for the ask! @hellogoodbyegirl :)

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

A Shadow Of The Colossus wallpaper! I love this game.

🍫 Cheese or chocolate?

I like both, but as I'm more of a savory person, I prefer cheese.

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

I think I'd be a shortbread cookie, hehe

🐸 Describe your aesthetic.

Definitely clowncore , kidcore, vintage, softcore and cottagecore. I don't have a defined one, but my favorite is clowncore.

that's it.

[northwestofinsanity]

for 'the three songs ask': 3,4, 29 and 30!

Hi, thanks for asking!

3 Three songs you were recently obsessed with:

“Wonder” -Natalie Merchant.  I had the pleasure of discovering this one back in December.  Very soothing tune, lyrics deeply touching, especially in context with the backstory.  Makes me tear up, but in a good way.

“You Deserve Love” -White Reaper.  This one, I’ve known awhile.  They’re like, one of the only bands formed post 2000s that I have wholeheartedly liked.  “You Deserve Love” came into my head back in February when my class at school caught a case of contagious grumpiness that brought everyone down, and it’s just a great song for dealing with that.  The title isn’t actually in the lyrics, but I read that they made it the song and album title because they believed it’s a message people need to hear -and I love that from them!

“The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” -R.E.M.  I tend to forget about this one, and then I catch it and can’t stop listening to it for at least a week.  It’s a bit silly, with some interesting symbolism to it -and the comical cramming of fast syllables into the chorus!  (Actually, in my mind, it achieves what “Shiny Happy People” was meant to, except in a much better way -and as such, I actually like playing “…Sidewinder…” on loop).  Love the moment when Michael Stipe audibly giggles over one of the choruses -makes the silly lyrics and upbeat tune feel so much more human.

4 Three songs that you know thanks to your parents:

“Floating” -The Moody Blues.  One of my favorites as a kid, hands-down.  So glad I knew The Moodies growing up, because if I’d had to discover them myself, I’m not sure how long it would have taken to find this sweet, innocent little track!

“In the Passage” -Dan Fogelberg.  I’m even more glad to have been introduced to Dan’s music as a kid, because it would have really been hard to find without that.  This one made me decide to take up piano, too.

“Sign On The Dotted Line” -Gerry Rafferty.  Not one of his I see going around much, so I’m glad to have been shown this deceptively upbeat little tune over a tragic tale about how twisted the music industry and record labels could be.

29 Three songs that influenced you most (some songs change or save lives):

“Into the Fire” -Dokken.  A chronic, recurring earworm that was exactly what I needed it to be for me in 2017. It also kicked off the process of becoming less shy about liking the things I do, despite what other people might think about it.

“Passion Rules the Game” -Scorpions.  This one was also a long term earworm, which with its upbeat little chorus and positive underlying message, kept a string of optimism alive in me getting through lockdowns and very intense roommate drama in 2020, and trying to hunt for a job through it all.  The music video is very serotonin-boosting, too, with the guys just having so much fun performing together!

“Foreplay/Longtime” -Boston.  That was the gateway song to my classic rock obsession really taking off on the level it’s come to.  First song I had heard, loved, and didn’t know the title of that I successfully tracked down on YouTube on my own by searching a section of lyrics.  That led to researching the band itself -and many more would then follow.

30 Three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above):

“Empty Cages” -Dan Fogelberg.  It is my mission to spread awareness of the truly talented guitarist Dan was, and just how hard he could go with an electric guitar when he wanted to, as he did throughout that song -which is just good in general, too.  Not that his radio hits aren’t good in my mind, but I can totally get why some would hear only those soft ballads and have no idea, and why some might not look beyond those.

“Nothing Changes” -The Moody Blues.  It’s really more of a spoken poem over instrumentation by the late, great Graeme Edge, but I think it can be quite comforting to hear when there’s a lot of uncertainty and chaotic world events and it all gets to be too much… which is often these days.

“Back On The Road Again” -REO Speedwagon.  Great driving song for anyone who likes those!  Also representing a different side of them than what the radio usually shows, out of their many, many, vastly different sides

[northwestofinsanity]

For the fun questions ask thingy :-) :

1, 5, 12, 17, 29, 30, and 38 !

Hi! (Oh wow, this got long… I don’t know how to be concise when I write… maybe someday I’ll figure it out XD)

1 - What are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

First thing was probably one of the first truly tragic moments in my life that registered as such, but something a lot of good came from.  I lost a five month old kitten to the Feline Leukemia Virus.  It started with the insidious onset of what’s called “fading kitten syndrome”, and this particular virus starts with a latent strain and doesn’t usually do too much until it spontaneously mutates to another form.  His mutated to the less common form that causes a fatal anemia, and it was devastating.  Even though he probably didn’t stand much of a chance with the other things it could have been, just for how young he was, the vets at our general clinic and the ER tried everything, to rule out every other possible thing that might have been curable and to make sure he got that chance, and that was really special… so eighteen years later, I’m in veterinary school!

Second -maybe not the best of things, but I grew up as an only child with no kids my age on my street, or for a few surrounding blocks in the neighborhood, and from the time I was eight, I started having a hard time fitting in at school.  I think the closest thing I had to friends were my older cousins, who have a significant age gap with me -20 and 13 years apart -so I only had them but so often.  I had to be creative in finding ways to entertain myself outside of school when I was by myself, and I’ve been told many times over, with various connotations that I’m an old soul… but I think in the long run, that’s served me well.

Third thing was when I started writing as a hobby as a preteen.  I was at a frustrating point in my life, but also when I got some answers to some things I’d been at a loss for up until then (first therapist to recognize I might be autistic, and suddenly, a lot of things made sense).  Then, my little cousin, who was three at the time, asked me to make up a story for him, loosely based on one of his favorite cartoons, and since I already had a thing for carrying internal dialogue and making up stories with made-up characters in my head to deal with being alone a lot, I delivered.  And I really enjoyed doing it, so I did more -some for him, and some for myself, and I ended up with around 200 OCs related to that universe.  One of the OCs that I related most to sort of had similar social problems to mine, but she was always a step ahead of me in dealing with it, and I would look at what she did as who I wanted to be as a person.  Over time, I tried to identify how to get there by looking at how I portrayed her, and how that was different from what I did, and I’ve followed her over the years in overcoming a lot of challenges.  I never realized then that by giving my little cousin a made-up world to enjoy, I’d be finding my way through the world in it -funny how life works!

5 - What made you start your blog?

I started my blog in February of 2017 -because I was having an emotional breakdown.  Hands down, probably the worst time in my life so far.  I was having an autoimmune attack, and my grandfather was going down with late stage heart failure… so when an online community I was part of on DeviantArt began melting down and one of my friendships there turned toxic on top of that, it was just too much.  I had to step away from it and leave it behind, and I had a lot of mixed feelings about that -because up until then, that was my escape I’d enjoyed when life got tough.  So, I’d already debated making a Tumblr to focus on my favorite bands, and I decided then to take the jump and do it, as a distraction to help me focus away from there (in all honesty, probably not the best mindset to have based that decision on, but oh well!) I mostly lurked in the beginning -being a bit wary, because I’d heard multiple people say Tumblr drama made DeviantArt drama look tame.  I guess I must be lucky to have avoided a lot of it if that’s true, but I’m so grateful that I did it.

12 - What’s some good advice you want to share?

As someone who’s in that age range where a lot of people are told that supposedly, “life starts getting better” or “easier”, I can say that while anyone’s mileage may vary due to life events (obviously, it’s not going to be easier for someone going through an upheaval during that time!) -it does …but not in the way it’s made out to be through that suggestion.  Life isn’t necessarily going to be any less chaotic or more certain just because you hit a certain age. (Like, I’m still in school, and that’s the only thing making my future more certain than a few years back -but I still have no idea where I’ll end up when I come out of it -and then there’s a ton of scary what-ifs in vet school to replace the uncertainty of applying and reapplying. And yeah, some things are less daunting for having experience with it, but there still is a lot I’m still figuring out now).  But, what does change is, with slight variation, it very gradually becomes easier to pick and choose life battles and take things in stride.  It’s easier to tell what’s really mandatory to deal with, and what seems like it might be, but actually isn’t quite that serious.  And it becomes easier deciding between the stuff in the non-mandatory category, what’s worth fighting and what’s not (and that may change day-to-day).  It’s easier to say “You know what?  Screw it -I don’t care!” and not feel guilty when it’s the best thing, or maybe the only thing you really can do (it’s easier to recognize this with confidence, too)… and among the chaos there still variably will be, that much can be very, very liberating.

17 - Name 3 things that make you happy:

-Seeing or hearing people around me happy.  I don’t even have to know what it’s about, but if I hear someone across the room bust up in laughter, and I can tell by the tone that it’s genuine, I can just feel my serotonin levels rise.

-Being around animals -especially, going home from school to my cats!  But also, the long twelve-hour shifts at work when I get a particularly sweet and endearing patient.  It could be the worst work day ever otherwise, but that one patient will be the reason I drive home smiling.

-When I have the time to challenge myself to draw something I haven’t attempted before, or doing something challenging I haven’t done in awhile, and it all starts coming together.

29 - What do you do when you’re sad?

It depends on what I’m sad about, and the level of sadness. Watching some comfort videos is usually the first thing.  If I’m not having writer’s block and I have the time and can figure out a good plot to channel it through, I’ve gotten some pretty intense angst fics out of sadness that helped me process it all.  Music, it depends on if I’m trying to cheer up with it, or if I’m trying to get some emotional catharsis when I’ve got a lot of accumulated feelings. If the sadness isn’t giving me an insomniac fit, I’ll take any opportunity to sleep in -and that is quite healing early on.  And when all else fails, it’s the last thing I want to do when I’m sad, but if I can get myself to start cleaning and decluttering, I usually feel a lot better for it.

30 - What’s one thing that never fails to make you happy/happier?

Driving with music on and having one of those chance moments of synchronicity, where whatever song is playing just fits what’s on the road perfectly.  It can feel strangely like living to a soundtrack sometimes, but there is nothing more satisfying.

38 - Favorite song at the moment?

Usually, I’m very iffy about 90s music, but over time, I’ve found a handful of good songs by Live that have grown on me, and “Pain Lies on the Riverside” has been in my head a few days over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been enjoying it.

Thanks for asking!

[northwestofinsanity]

@hellogoodbyegirl I saw you were looking for a Supertramp video including clips of the soap-bubble filled TV performance of Lady…?