#5

You, a grown adult, are afraid of the dark. Explain why this is a legitimate concern, so friends won’t laugh at you.

Consider this: everything bad in the movies happens in the dark.

The killer is coming for everyone… it’s nighttime and none of the lights are working.

An apparition or ghost appears at night after everyone has already gone to sleep.

The purge literally happens at night.

But on a more serious note, and before you think I’m being silly, I’m not afraid of the dark because of the dark itself, but I’m afraid of the possible dangers concealed by the dark.

Lecia Bushak, a reporter with Medical Daily, says that “being afraid of the dark isn’t irrational or childlike; it’s a natural human impulse. It turns out that the feelings of anxiety and uneasiness we feel when the lights go out are a reflection of an evolutionary impulse to remain safe.”

When the lights go out, it’s a natural response for human’s to feel uneasy because the lack light, or being able to see, threatens our feeling of safety.

So please, don’t judge me. I just want to feel safe.

#4

It’s 2100 and the world is running out of fresh water. Describe a typical day.

We wake up every morning wondering whether or not today will be the dreaded day – will there still be water or will today finally be the end of all days?

The radio is turned on first thing in the morning and we hear the Prime Minister announce that the water has not yet dried up.

A weight is lifted off our shoulders; we get one more day.

We travel down to the part of the St. Lawrence River we’ve situated ourselves at, armed with three large canteens and three rifles. People have become desperate for any extra water they can get their hands on and we’ve lost quite a few members of our group because we failed to protect ourselves. We swore we wouldn’t make that mistake again.

The river’s water supply is dwindling, but I can tell it’s still got another two weeks left in it at minimum.

We fill the canteens to the brim and will use one for today, and save two for when the fatal day arrives.

We should be okay if we keep going like this, but one can never be sure. I mean who actually thought the world would run out of fresh water?

#3

Things you should throw away but can’t.

I have a lot of things that I should have throw into the garbage ages ago, but as my mom likes to call me, I’m a “pack-rat” and have a hard time letting go of things.

For example, I have a bag of bags in one of my closets. Yes, you read that right, a bag of bags. This is a giant shopping bag filled with other smaller shopping bags, that I thought were unique or different and decided I needed to keep. (The amount of bags there is also hints at a larger shopping problem I have, but we’ll talk about that later).

Another thing is a Justin Bieber cardboard cutout I was given as a birthday gift during my peak years of obsession with the Biebs. I really should have thrown this out a few years ago when I outgrew that phase in my life, but JB was just relocated from my bedroom to the basement.

My room is also full of empty liquor bottles. Should these be recycled when they’re empty? Yes. Do they instead take up unnecessary space on my shelves? Yes.

I also have a bad habit of keeping receipts way longer than necessary. Anytime I purchase something the receipt gets stuffed into a drawer “just in case” and usually isn’t seen again for years. (I found one in my drawer the other day that was dated 2014).

Moral of this post is that I like to keep garbage. Bags, empty bottles, and old receipts are all literally garbage, but for some reason I can’t seem to make it to the trash can with them.

#2

Write a “bucket list” for your favourite superhero.

Oh this is going to be fun… my favourite superhero is of course Captain America/Steve Rogers.

1. “Binge-watch” something?
2. Find out what binge-watch means
3. Pick up Thor’s hammer
4. Join a barbershop quartet
5. The Beatles?
6. Backstreet Boys?
7. One Direction?
8. Try Asian cuisine
9. Go to a concert with Bucky & Sam
10. Go to the drive-in
11. Watch a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium
12. Fly in Sam’s suit
13. Fly in Tony’s suit
14. Try “street meat”
15. Meet the Queen
16. Find out what “F-M-L” means
17. Find out what “I-R-L” means
18. Start a softball team with the other Avengers
19. Set up Nat & Bucky
20. Go to Six Flags
21. Star Wars/Trek?
22. Visit somewhere “tropical”
23. Help Bucky get better
24. Give Peggy her dance

#1

What would you run out of the house with if your house caught on fire?

I’ve thought about this in much detail many times, and it’s definitely changed a lot over the years. I used to be desperately concerned with a special Zac Efron-related plaque that hung in my room and a cardboard cutout of Justin Bieber that watched me sleep from the corner, but I’ve outgrown “needing” to keep those now.

If I’m being honest, most of my plans involving what to take in case of a fire include packing three bags I have in my room (two backpacks and one beach bag). This may seem ridiculous but I have a lot of things my selfish heart would NOT be down to part with. As well, what and how much I take is contingent on where the fire originates. The ideal location would be in the basement, because then I’ll have enough time to pack up my room before the fire reaches me. My parents ensuite window leads to a gazebo I can safely jump from, so I won’t need the front door to get out should the fire reach the main floor before I’ve finished packing.

If the fire starts in the basement, then everything I’d run out of the house with would be from my room. Two photo albums, my box of makeup (that stuff is so expensive there’s no way I could afford it all again), my Build-A-Bears Poe and Andy, my wallet, laptop (again these things are expensive), phone and headphones, my sunglasses because they were too expensive to let just get crisped up, a few choice items of clothing and pairs of shoes if time affords because why not, and probably my Rihanna CDs if there’s room.

If the fire starts on the first floor, Poe and Andy would be grabbed quickly if I was already in my room, and I would head to the basement and load up a few of my favourite movies from my collection before booking it outside. (As you can see, the ideal fire location is basement because then I get to keep more things hehe).

And yes, before you think I’m a horrible person I would make sure my family was aware of the fire before I started loading my things. If space affords it, I might even let them throw a few of their things in my bags too.

Laura 

Hey there!

For what feels like my millionth attempt to start and keep a blog, I decided to tackle it a different way.

A few years ago my parents bought me the book 642 Things to Write About. I was eager to start it, but after writing only a few entries it sat in my drawer collecting dust.

I’ve been trying to think of a way to motivate myself to keep a blog this summer, and I thought what better way than to have a different topic given to me everyday.

So I pulled the book out of hiding and decided this blog will feature writings inspired by the ideas from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. (And maybe a bit more)

Laura