So, what do you want to know?

Well, I figured I've been lingering around on here for a few weeks now, so I might as well make myself a cozy little thread and see what you all might want to know about yours truly. Here's a few basics to get ya started.

I'm female, 28 years old (will be 29 in about a month). I am married and will be having a 2 year anniversary the beginning of November. I'm not originally from these parts, but now I live here in Essex.

I have suffered from various mental illnesses in the past, but am every day getting stronger and better; however I still find it hard to meet people and get to know others, which is why I try to spend time online to meet people who maybe can become not just online buddies but real life friends.

I'm not religious, but do believe in spirit.

I don't have any kids, but have three black cats.

I enjoy the occasional drug (when i can find them), but not big into alcohol as it just tends to make me feel ill. I do however smoke weed quite a bit, but haven't smoked fags since i was 21.

I love to read, enjoy music, watching tv, and movies.

I don't tend to go clubbing, though I used to; but now enjoy a night home more than most other things.

That's all I can really think to post at the moment. So, I open myself up to your questions, poking, and prodding. Just be gentle.

 

I know a little about Essex, being a Dagenham boy.

Are you rural or town based, and why Essex ?

 

You might know more about Essex than me.

I'm town based, fairly close to Basildon in fact, and not too far from Southend.

I moved here to Essex, because it is where my husband is from and where his parent's live. So, I've made it my home, for the time being.

 

So what drew you to these shores, and what made you leave America? How does Britain compare to the US?

 

Well, my main reason for coming here was my husband. He's originally from here, and well things were alot rougher financially in the U.S. of A. I was pretty far away from my family in the States (though not quite as far as an ocean), and his family lives less than 5 miles from us now. So, the extra support from family closeby was definitely an added plus.

So far, I definitely prefer Britain. I've done a few tourist-like things this past year, like visit Camden, see Stonehenge, and the White Cliffs of Dover. The heritage and landscape here is amazing! It still blows my mind that you guys have buildings here that have been around for hundreds of years, and going to Stonehenge completely blew my head out of the water when I saw how long that had been around. I mean, for the most part, America is pretty "new" so it's amazing when you see houses and such that have been around for 100-150 years, unlike here where there is history seemingly everywhere.

Crime here is different. I honestly am a bit more worried at times about being knifed on the street, but I think that is cause I'm not used to the upclose violence of knives. Hearing about someone being mugged with a knife is a lot different to hearing gunshots on a daily basis.

There is a lot less convienence here, but I'm not 100% sure that's a BAD thing. At times it's annoying, but overall I don't mind it.

And well, as long as Bush is still President. I won't even be thinking of returning to the States. That wasn't my primary reason for coming here ... but I had been talking for years of moving to Canada to escape. ;-)

 

hi phoenix .................... .who influences you musically ?

 

What is the largest animal you have killed?

 

I would say Beethoven definitely. He has always been my fave composer.

More modern, I'd say Tori Amos and Trent Reznor. Maybe also the sounds of Portishead.

I listen to MANY other varieties, but for actual influence/inspiration, these are the ones I'd turn to.

 

when i was 19 i accidentally hit a possum when i was out driving and it died. i thought at first it was a cat, and i started crying and freaking out. i still felt bad that i killed the possum; but i didn't then have to face going to some little old ladies house (how my mind presented the theory) and having to tell her that her one companion she had left in life had just been killed by a stupid teenager driving too fast close to home. That was so horrible ... i'm going to cry now.

 

Essex. My memories are bad ones. Trying to find my way around Essex was a nightmare. But when I left car at home and took C2C into Southend, I was quite happy going to the Kursel and walking up and down the longest pier in the world.

Also there was plenty of lovely places to walk and going to Thorpe bay. However Places like Upminister are as far as I can take.Upminster stinks. No wonder the Hammersmith and City Line stops quite far from Upminster. The District line seems brave enough.

 

I've only actually been on the C2C once, in order to go sightseeing in London (since I'd never been there). And, well, the only place I recognize out of everything you wrote was Southend. LOL ... guess I need to get out more.

As I haven't been able to sleep all night, I'm waiting a few more hours in order to go out to the local boot sale and try to find some more cheap books to read. I'll be sad when the season ends for cheap books.

 

Oh, and I totally understand about the bad memories. I live in the Basildon area, and in the 1 year i've been here, i've had 2 cars stolen. There was someone mugged at knife-point less than a 3 minute walk from where i live as they were coming home at 11pm, and someone else muggled less than a 6 minute walk away around 12 in the afternoon on a weekday!

Makes me feel VERY lucky that I still have a car now, and don't have to walk around and wait for the bus. I get nervous going outside sometimes because of the brazen violence that seems to permeate the community i live in. And, it still makes me go nuts when I think about it, as I came from an area where you could hear gunshots on a nightly basis in the distance, but I lived in the heart of the city there for over 10 years and never even had my car broken into.

 

What would your answer be to the crime problem?

 

what are your cats names?

Did you name them?

whats your favourite website?

 

Well it would be really naive of me to think that any answer I could come up with would be accurate. I don't think guns are the answer, and I hope that the police over here do not start carrying them on a regular basis as I've seen too many gun-crazy cops in the States.

I do think that it would be better to invest more money in patroling problem areas, as opposed to leaving those areas to basically breed more crime while the areas that have no crime get patrolled all the time. I still find that odd. I mean, I certainly don't think the policing done in the states is the greatest, but I know when you lived near a ghetto or in a ghetto you would see cop cars ALL the time (which was annoying if you wanted to sit out on your porch and have a joint); but it kept the more violent crime at bay. However, in suburban areas that weren't as violent to begin with, you'd maybe see a cop cruise round once a week. In contrast, from what I've at least seen here in the Basildon area, the suburban/non-crime breeding areas have TONS of patrols; but where I live, where the crime rate is a lot higher for both petty and violent crimes there seems to rarely if ever be a patrol going round. The only patrols we have are neighborhood watch patrols.

My hubby and I named our two girl kitties. They are twin sisters, the only difference in their appearance is the fact one is short-haired and one is long-haired. The short-haired one is Sheba and the long-haired one is Cleo (short for Cleopatra). They are the queens of the house.
Our male cat, we adopted and he was already named Thomas. We don't particularly like the name, but he's used to it, and we can't think of an alternative that sounds similar.

My favourite website ... It's going to sound cliche, but I rather like the hip forums. I spend most of my online time either here or on E-Bay. I guess I'm pretty boring like that. I do like watching videos though on e-baumsworld and youtube.

 

cool i have got a cat called clio, I didn't name it and its not short for anything, ok more questions:

1, What is your favourite sport?
2 Do you prefer to play, spectate, manage, referee etc?
3 What job do you have and what would your dream job be?

 

1. my favourite 'type' of sports are extreme sports (skateboarding, snowboarding, bmx street style, inline skating) not really into many other sports though back in the States I used to love watching an occasional basketball game but well ... you guys don't seem to follow b-ball at all over here

2. always spectate

3. currently am not working as i care for my hubby. if i could do anything i'd do my life long dream of being a concert pianist ... but well, don't much see that happening at this point.

 

You care for your husband !

Is this a big part of who you are at present ?

 

Ah you're from the US, where are you from here?

 

Was that first part a question? Yeah, I'm not some sort of submissive housewife or something, but I used to suffer from severe mental illness myself and wasn't able to work or practically leave the house for years. When I met my husband, I progressively got better; but he still suffers from really severe mental illness (depression/anxiety/panic and such) so I look after him.

And well, yeah, I guess it would be a big part of what I do; but not necessarily who I am. I would not like to think that what defines me as a person/being would be equated to doing laundry, cooking meals, and making sure the shopping is in (And all the other socially involved tasks that my husband is too ill to deal with). Being his wife is a big part of me, but I am my own person and individual. I think that I would fairly say that having the compassion and open-mindedness to realize that severe depression, anxiety, and panic are real illnesses and not just made up psycho-babble is definately a big part of me, as i spent so many years caught up in the struggle myself. And well, now, for the most part, that is behind me - hopefully permanently behind me.

Born in Ohio (but only lived there for about 3 years), spent most of my life in Rochester, New York (and the surrounding areas) - and despite everyone complaining how cold it is here, it's nothing in comparison to what I was used to back home. My family (for the most part) is down South now, around North Carolina.