September 13 2008: You Ask, I Answer #2
Filed under Online
As per yesterday’s entry. If you didn’t get your question in on time, feel free to continue asking them on that entry – I’ll do the next batch of question answering in a few days.
What do you love about yourself? What do you dislike about yourself? If anything? (asked by Shen-Shen)
I love the fact that no matter what situation I’m placed in, or who I’m with, or what I’m doing, I’m always me. I love that I’m confident enough in my identity to not feel the need to pretend to be someone I’m not, to always be proudly and occasionally, defiantly, Amanda. It can definitely be hard at times to maintain one’s composure and self-certainty, but I don’t think there’s anything of more value.
The one thing I most dislike about myself (and I’m going to be really materialistic here), is my skin. I have fucking terrible skin, blotchy at the best of times, something akin to rosacea at the worst of times. At the moment I have three pimples on my cheeks. I’m tempted to try a drastic procedure (e.g. skin peels) to see if it makes much difference, but the price is somewhat prohibitive.
What’s your favorite word? And why? (asked by Kycoo)
You know, this is one of those questions where the answer will change from day to day. I’m indecisive you see, and while I may profess to have a soft spot for a certain word today, it’s likely that tomorrow another word will take its place in my heart. So, let’s just stick with the plain and simple and say that “I” is my favourite word. As a blogger whose main topic of conversation is herself, what she does, what she feels, what she wears, etc., it’s undoubtedly the one word that’s most used on this blog.
They don’t call me a narcissistic bitch for nothing you know.
What is one thing, serious or silly… or both, that you’ve always wanted to but haven’t done yet? (asked by Rafia)
You know, I always talk about playing the “Penis Vagina” game (it’s a lot more innocent than it sounds, I swear), but I never actually have. The concept of the game is simple: you and the game’s other player stand on opposite sides of a large street in a busy city, and while one screams “PENIS!” at the other, the other screams “VAGINA!” in reply. It works best when it’s late at night, you’re both a little tipsy, and everyone around you is at a stage of their evening where they’re quite “happy”, and end up joining the game.
On a more serious note, I always thought that I’d have set foot on more countries by now. Yet, I’ve still only been within Australia, to China, and to New Zealand. A younger me would have imagined that she’d had done the bulk of South East Asia by the time she was twenty-one. The younger me was sadly wrong.
I know you’re an Austen fan, so which is your favourite novel and why? And which heroine (or character, really) do you most identify with? (asked by Carmen)
I’m going to be really predictable here, and say Pride and Prejudice. To be fair, I actually think it’s the strongest out of all her novels in terms of readaibility – Sense and Sensibility never spoke to me, Emma was too long and ponderous, Mansfield Park didn’t deal with the issue of slavery enough, Northanger Abbey was too gothic for my liking, and Persuasion‘s heroine wasn’t strong enough. By a process of elimination, P&P comes out on top. Not to say of course, that I dislike the other novels, because I don’t. I love them all, but love P&P just a little bit more.
I’d probably compare myself most to Mr. Darcy. Proud, certain of his place in society, seemingly arrogant and aloof, scorning those I feel beneath me, a devotion to family, a willingness to involve myself in the affairs of friends, and most of all, able to have my rough edges smoothed out by the love of someone quite individual. I’d like to think that I have a bit of the spirit of Elizabeth Bennet in me as well.
Describe your life in 10 words or less. (asked by Anne)
Currently difficult, but it can only get better.
If you could start your own country, what would it be like? What would you call it? Where would it be? (asked by Meli)
Coincidentally, I’ve just been reading about some guy who got sick of paying council taxes, so declared his land to be “XYZ country”, and effectively made himself an independent country, with its own currency and passports and everything. I have to say, the idea is appealing. In any case, I’d be remarkably uncreative, call it Amanda-land, and it can be a quaint little country in the middle of Europe, like Genovia in The Princess Diaries.
I think one key point about this imaginary country, would be the fact that it would be socialist to a point. (Or, socialism with Amanda’s characteristics). Education, childcare and healthcare will be government-funded, with taxes falling primarily on large corporations rather than private citizens. Abortion will be legal, sex education mandatory in schools, and scientific research heavily encouraged. Basically, as close to an egalitarian/socialist society as possible, while still allowing for private enterprises and for people to accumulate material property.
All the social issues I’ve discussed on this blog? Apply it to this country.
Why is it that we’re always damned if we do/ dammed if we don’t? On a less serious note, What would be your rendition of a perfect day? (asked by Noemi)
Because it’s just too easy to find something to criticise about another person, especially if one is particularly nitpicky. Even if you do one thing right, there’s always something else that someone else can call you out on. The procrastinator’s solution would be to just not do anything – that way even if people criticise you, you at least haven’t expended any energy in doing something.
My perfect day would be sleeping in late, till about 10am. I’d have breakfast in bed (bacon and eggs thanks, with freshly squeezed orange juice), take a long leisurely bath, make my way to the Botanic Gardens with a picnic basket, spend the afternoon lying on the grass listening to live music and snacking out of the picnic basket. Make my way home, have a casual backyard barbeque with friends and family, lots of good vino and laughter. Collapse in bed with the fella for some private time.
Ideally of course. Chance of that happening is about zero to none.
Cake or death? (asked by Arielle)
Depends on what kind of cake. Forcible death by eating chocolate mud cake (anyone else read Roald Dahl’s Matilda?) would be certainly a different way to die.
If you were a celebrity, what would be famous for and why? If you had a chance to publish your own autobiography, would you do it? Why/why not? (asked by Melinda)
A-ha! How did you know I constantly have dreams (actual dreams, not just daydreams) where I’m rich and famous and everyone bows down to me in subservience? The most recent dream had me as a Heather-of-Dooce-esque blogger. As in, most-famous-blogger, earns enough through her blog to buy a house and support her family, etc. In other dreams, I’ve been an Olympian, a dancer, a musician, an actress…basically I’m influenced by other factors in my life. If I watch or read it, I become it. Realistically however, none of this is ever going to happen and I’ll just be a regular Joe.
And, I’d most definitely publish my own autobiography! I see it as happening now in any case, as this blog is really nothing but a daily celebration of me, my thoughts, my actions, and so on, and so forth. I think anyone’s life story is worth telling – whether for entertainment purposes, as a guide to life, or as a guide for “how not to live”. To take Anthony Kiedis’s autobiography as an example, it was entertaining in the sense that we got a peek into the superstar lifestyle, but it was also a morality tale of “don’t get into drugs”. I suppose my own autobiography would serve as both entertainment and a lesson in self-love.
I have been in LOVE with wide belts (like the one you wore to your interview). What type of clothes can they be worn with, and what type of physical conformation? (asked by Vera)
It’s all very dependent on the shape of your figure! People of different shapes can wear things in different ways. I’m very much an hourglass figure (lots of boobs and hips, relatively small waist), so I try to accentuate this by using wide belts worn up high under the bust, rather than wide belts slung low over the hips. I tend to prefer the wide elasticised belts worn over either voluminous floaty chiffon-esque tops or dresses, to draw in the item of clothing to reduce the chance of looking pregnant.
I’ve seen girls of…shall we say, a more boyish figure, wear them over skintight dresses. That can work well as well, to accentuate the skintight-ness. You can basically Google Images “elasticised waist belts” though, and it’ll give you a hundred and one ideas of how to play with it in outfits.
How would you say you have changed since this time last year? Have you done anything this past year that you didn’t think you would? Can I have a hug please? (asked by Rachael)
I’m definitely a lot more “grown-up” than I was last year. It’s funny how something as simple as nearing graduation and entering full-time work can cause one to think in more practical terms. While essentially, I’m still the same person and do the same things, the motivation behind doing these things has changed. For instance, I’m not conscientious about saving money in order to travel. While I still yearn to travel, I’m recognising the fact that half of what I save should be really saved for something more long-term (e.g. a home deposit), rather than a short-term savings goal (e.g. travel).
As gooey as it sounds, I didn’t think I’d actually, you know, get in a monogamous relationship this year. I’d imagined, and had looked forward to, more of what I’d enjoyed for the majority of my sexually-active life: purely physical arrangements that were mutually beneficial without expectation or desire for anything more. I didn’t look to get into a relationship, but well, it happened almost without me realising it.
And sure, you can have a hug. Either fly to Melbourne, or fly me to England. One or the other!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how sexy do you think Andy will be in 10 years time? (My prediction for this answer: 5493875629837.) (asked by Tracey)
Your prediction is clearly wrong because the obvious answer is googol.
The man is sexy, and he’ll be forever sexy.
His sexiness can only grow exponentially with time.
There is no end to his sexiness.
And so on, and so forth. Proof.
Which is your favourite Chinese song? What is your ideal boob size? Will you ever get your butt here to Brunei?!!! (asked by Chien Yee)
I’m a bit of a traditionalist actually, my favourite songs are still the ones that I heard first, that I learnt Chinese off. Keeping in mind that I didn’t actually start learning Chinese properly until I was eighteen, the three songs that my friend emailed to me to help me with the language were: Jay Chou’s 安静 An Jing, Wang Leehom’s Forever Love, and Guang Liang’s 童话 Tong Hua. All three remain my top three karaoke songs, and it’d be hard to just pick one!
It’s hard for me to comment on an “ideal boob size” considering I’ve kind of been the same size since I was in my early teens. From pure conjecture…perhaps a D? That’s a full two to three sizes smaller than I currently am, which would reduce a lot of the back pain I get, while still being large enough to, you know, not be flat-chested. Plus, a D would be practical because the bulk of my wardrobe is of items that best suit ladies of a larger bust size…if I went down any smaller, I’d have to buy a whole new wardrobe!
Long answer: I’ve actually looked at flights to Brunei before, and while they’re not expensive, they’re not exactly cheap either. I suppose the one thing holding me back would be the fact that there’s actually not much to do in Brunei? I’ve had a look in travel guides and so on as well, and they all seem to recommend that travellers be discreet in everything they do when there. I think it’s well known that my personal activities don’t exactly go hand-in-hand with travelling within the strict culture of an Islamic country. Short answer: we’ll see.
If you happened to learn that the world was going to end in four years: How would you spend those years? (asked by Mari)
Not being hung up on the future. Much of what I do now is done because I’m thinking about how it’ll affect me five years down the track, ten years down the track, twenty years down the track. The reason I work, the reason I’m at university, the reason I’m looking for a full-time job, the reason I try so hard to save money, the reason for almost everything I do.
If I know for certain that I’m going to die in four years time…well, that can all go to hell can’t it? I’m not going to work my arse off to save up for a home deposit when I’m not going to have a chance to live in the home. I’d be happier working a low-stress part-time job for enough money to live on, but to spend more time simply enjoying life and all its little treats. I don’t spend enough time simply sitting, and watching the world go by.
If you could go back to any time period in any country, when would it be and why? (asked by Tara)
I’m inclined to say Tang Dynasty China, for the sheer opulence of the way the imperial court lived. All that gold, the brocade, the cultural advancement…that level and standard of opulence is all quite mind-blowing. I’m not only speaking of this as a result of watching Zhang Yimou’s “Curse of the Golden Flower”, but because of exhibitions I’ve seen of Tang artistry and craftsmanship, and Tang poetry I’ve read.
Unfortunately, it’s about a million times more likely that I’d be a downtrodden peasant in that time, rather than a lavish court lady.
If you had the choice to go back in time and choose for yourself any ethnic background to be born with (other than Chinese), which one would you choose and why? When do you foresee another trip back up to Sydney, and how long will we stay out in the city selling our asses for money? Will you please donate a boob to me? (asked by Xuan)
It’s hard for me to even imagine being anything other than yellow. It’s so ingrained in me, that to separate me from my yellowness, would be to only have a half-Amanda. With that said, it’ll have to be an ethnicity that has a strong cultural background. Potentially Italian or Greek – a strong culture based on food, and the importance of family.
I’ve been thinking about another trip up to Sydney actually, but at this point, I’d probably say “not any time soon”. I’ve got flights booked to Adelaide for February next year (they were super cheap Jetstar ones), and depending how career/potential-continued-university plans go, I might be jetting off overseas again at the the end of the year. I’m thinking something not-China, but South-East Asia. The Philippines, or Singapore, or Malaysia, or somewhere similar.
And in other news, yes, you can have a boob. If you pay for it! Mwahaha.
Looking back at last year’s questions, have any of your answers changed? For the better or worse? (asked by Skye)
Nothing of any real consequence has changed. Answers to questions like “What do you want to buy?” have obviously changed, but to the meatier questions of “What do you fear?”, etc., still remain essentially the same. I still regret the fact that I have regrets, I still fear the future, I still fear not being around my loved ones. Those three things have become such an intrinsic part of who I am that right now, it seems as though I’ll never be rid of these fears and regrets.
Other than having anal sex (I take my hat off to you for that, because no matter how sexually inhibited I might be, that’s one thing I’ll never do), what is the craziest thing you’ve done sexually? And what is the craziest thing you’ve done non-sexually? (asked by Nat Marie)
Well you know, there was that time I was in Shanghai, and met a Chinese-American G.I. and his hot German girlfriend who invited me back to their place. And then that time (again in Shanghai), when I’d spent six weeks flirting with a Filipino bartender at a Mexican bar before finally getting to know him better in an alleyway behind the bar. And that time last year at my 21st birthday party which disintegrated into a full-blown orgy. You know, pretty standard stuff.
Non-sexually, the craziest thing I’ve done was to jump out of this into a canyon. Sure, there was a rope around my ankles, but still! I jumped out of that into a canyon! Oh, and the act that actually brought me to the point of jumping out of that: buying plane tickets to New Zealand on a whim. Seriously, I just thought, “Hey, let’s go to New Ziggy!”, and bought tickets that same day.
Is there anything in the past year that you regret doing, or not doing? Is there anything you wish you knew more about? (asked by Ann)
I definitely regret not having the chance to jump out of a plane. Granted, it wasn’t something that was within my power to change, but I’d been so keen to do it, to have the chance taken away was incredibly disappointing. I hope to do it sometime soon, but…well, yeah. But. There’s always a but.
There’s a million and one things I wish I knew more about. My area of expertise (so to speak) is disappointing narrow, and extends mainly to the field of humanities. My maths and science skills are sadly lacking (I know next to nothing about physics and chemistry), and I really don’t understand much about the human body and medical conditions. A short list, but there’s much more! Ideally, I’d like to keep learning for the rest of my days, to become a living, walking, encyclopaedia.
What did you like most (and the least) about your trip to New Zealand earlier this year? (asked by Rhiannon)
I think what I enjoyed most was all the activities I did, as well as meeting bloggers I thought I’d never have the chance to meet. Bungee jumping, canyoning…that was all absolutely unreal. Meeting Nellie, Rilla and Emily…that too, was unreal. I hate however, that I didn’t get the time to drive down to Wellington and meet you. I hate that I only had two weeks in your fair country, and I hate that I couldn’t have just spent a month, two months, three months, driving around and seeing all that New Zealand has to offer.
This reminds me, I’ve yet to actually complete my series of posts on my trip to New Zealand. It’s only been, what, seven months? Argh. Good kick up the pants Rhiannon!
What’s your favorite subject to blog about? Is there any question that you wouldn’t answer because it was too personal? (asked by Mari)
As unpopular as it is in terms of comments I get on these particular entries, I really enjoy writing my social policy/critique/issue entries, particularly those relating to the current state of Australian society. I try to keep up-to-date on Australian social and political issues, and for those that I feel most vehement on, I will blog about it here. It’s meaningless to a large majority of my readers, but I feel it’s important for me to do so, even if what I write only touches one other person.
I’ll always answer a question, no matter how personal it might be. It’s really more a question of how direct my answer will be, e.g. I’ll answer it, but I won’t give cold hard facts, I’d just allude to it. Believe it or not, there are certain things I can be discreet with! ;)
Would you ever film yourself having sex? Have you ever dressed up in the bedroom? You know — French Maid, Nurse, etc. If so — which outfit has been the biggest hit? (asked by Robmarie)
You know, now, I would say no to the first question. I’ve never seen the point of filming sex – what exactly is the point? How is it even remotely titillating? I can think of a million things I’d rather be doing than worrying about whether the camera was running when I’m having sex…like, you know, actually enjoying the act itself. And then, why would anyone watch themselves having sex on camera? Why not actually just have sex, instead of watching yourself have sex? I don’t get it. Having said all that, it’s probably something I’d end up doing at some point. The smart way of course, making sure that I have the only copy of the video, and that it’s not going to get into anyone else’s hands.
Surprisingly, I’ve never dressed up in the bedroom. It’s due to circumstances rather than anything else, as all the men I’ve been with for long enough to even need to contemplate spicing up the relationship (I’m generally enough spice myself, without having to resort to props!) have all lived with someone, whether it be still with their parents, or with a flatmate. Those who have lived alone, I’ve never had long-term arrangements with. So…yeah, maybe when I’m in a longer-term relationship with someone with their own place, my nurse costume will be brought out for private play.
Who, if anybody, would you not want reading your blog? Do you use a feed reeder, and if so, how many feeds are you subscribed to? What is your ideal job? If you could relive one year of your life, which would it be? (asked by Clem)
I’m not really that concerned about people reading my blog. My parents’ grasp of English isn’t strong enough for them to understand most of it, my brother could learn a lot about literacy and independent thinking from my blog, my fella reads my blog, and as for friends, there’s nothing I’ve written that I don’t say to their face anyway. I don’t censor myself for employers either, though I’m circumspect about details and wouldn’t badmouth the company on this blog. It’s all about commonsense I think – everything I write on here isn’t something I wouldn’t say to people’s faces, so it doesn’t bother me who reads it.
I use Google Reader as my feedreader, which I check regularly, and it tells me I have 403 subscriptions. The majority are personal blogs, with the rest being news blogs, fashion blogs, humour blogs, etc.
My ideal job would be something primarily organisational (in my mind, organisation = fun!), that would bring me in contact with people regularly. I’d love to be, for instance, a wedding planner (yay, weddings!), an eBay merchant (e.g. buying clothes cheaply at warehouse sales the way I do now, then selling them at higher prices on eBay), or a producer of some description. Whether it be a producer of a movie, a TV show, a radio show, a magazine…something that will require me to organise a million other people in order to come up with a fantastic end product.
Judging by happiness, I don’t think there’s a whole year I would want to live again. There are certain days, weeks, and months I’d like to live again (basically every time I’ve been travelling and free of obligations), but as far as I can remember, there are certain bad events every year of my life that I wouldn’t ever want to experience again. Judging by regrets however, I’d like to live my last year of high school again – I got great marks, but due to high levels of procrastination, didn’t get the excellent marks I deserved. I’m not exactly suffering from the effects of that now (I enjoyed the university course I got into with my marks), but it is something I regret.
If a knife was held to your throat, and you had to do a HARD (no mary jane) drug or die, which would you choose? (asked by Britney)
I’m so completely against drugs (hard or soft) of the needle, smoke, or pill, variety, that the very idea of ingesting anything like that into my body is abhorrent. Luckily, I found this page on Wikipedia, which lists alcohol as a hard drug. As I willingly ingest alcohol in moderate quantities on a weekly basis (nothing better than a glass of wine with dinner), I take the easy way out and choose alcohol!
If you had to give up everything in your life except for one thing, what would you choose? What would you do if everybody died and you were the only one left? (asked by Anne)
Love. That would encompass all those dear to me – family, friends, fella. I could do without everything else – money, job, education, material possessions, even the Internet (!), as long as I still had some love in my life. Yes, I know it’s soppy and emotional, but it’s true. Everything else is material, and it would be things that I would gradually earn back through the support of my loved ones…and even if I didn’t, that would be alright as well.
Having answered the first question, my answer to your second is obvious – I couldn’t survive. I need my loved ones around me to live. As emo as it sounds, I’d probably kill myself just so I wouldn’t have to be alone forever, separated from family and friends.
8 Responses to “You Ask, I Answer #2”
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I read Matilda. Awesome book! Anyway, your answers are answered awesomely. :3 I enjoyed reading them!
Tara on September 13 2008 #
I liked your answer to my question. Alcohol is EVERYWHERE and it’s so hard for most people to think of it as a hard drug or being dangerous. I drink sometimes, but not nearly what I used to. I realized just how dangerous alcohol can be. It changes the way people behave, it can cause alcohol poisoning if too much is consumed (something that almost happened to me), it can make you sick (happened to me many times the same night, as well as hangovers the next day), and it can put you in a state where you are unable to defend yourself (as I was sexually assaulted one night, but my friend walked in on the guy before it went farther than him touching my breasts).
Britney on September 14 2008 #
I was reading through all of this (obvs the perfect thing to do when you can’t sleep and its hailing) and I really like some of your answers- I particularly admire you for being so sure in your own skin (the first question answered, I think), that’s something I wish so many more people (including myself) could be.
Also! Yes to: Susan of Persuasion isn’t strong enough, Matilda is awesome and wide belts can totally make an outfit.
Carmen on September 14 2008 #
Whoa, I admire how you can talk about certain things so easily. That’s why I just keep on reading your blog, you are so brave o.o
Nathan on September 14 2008 #
Jay Chou and Lee Hom are love. I haven’t heard Guang Liang’s Tong Hua before, or maybe I forgot it, but ah well. I love reading your You Ask, I Answer posts because you talk about almost anything! XD
Chien Yee on September 14 2008 #
Aw, Amanda. That was awesome. I love these Question Answer Marathons that you do.
Erin on September 16 2008 #
[...] You Ask, I Answer #2 [...]
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