Tails from the Bark Side

I was going to start that meme in August, but I dun forgot. So here's five at once.

1. Your name
Mum said she and Dad just saw my name on a telly show (Gemma Craven, possibly?) and liked it. They thought it was unusual. So did six other parents of kids in my school year, haha. I do like it though. The Gemsy thing came about when I was at college and it came from this. I think my middle name is just there for the sake of having a middle name, haha. My surname is... no D in the middle!

2. All the places you’ve lived
I was born in Hythe, near Southampton, and lived there (in all these houses) until I moved to Portswood (a district in the actual city of Southampton), then Bitterne (also in the city) and now Salisbury (a different city).

3. Your first best friend
We had the same first name, so that was probably why we decided we were best friends. The first thing she said to me was, 'It was my birthday last night.' I said, 'Do you mean yesterday?' She said, 'No, last night!' I was best friends with her all through infant school I think, but then we drifted apart in juniors, where my best friends were Sam and Sharon. I drifted apart from all the people from my primary years when I started secondary school, where I started out being best friends with Donna, then Michelle... I seemed to get through them all, haha. I think the true besties showed themselves after school, though, or towards the end of my sixth form years, when I met Jeannie, Steve, Naina, Anna... Tam and Dave are the only two left, really, from school days.

4. Your childhood fears
Fire. Oh man, I was so scared our house was going to burn down and we'd all be killed in our beds. I used to wake my dad up every night to make him go and check there was no fire downstairs. Welephant used to come round and teach kids about fire safety. That bastard. Gave me proper nightmares. I think that's it really. I had a thing about sharks after watching Jaws, and that episode of Home & Away where the surfer got eaten. A lot of hypochondria - always paranoid I was about to drop dead from meningitis, a heart attack, cancer... Other than that, I just used to find a lot of stuff eerie, rather than scary. I used to find spooky things really intriguing. Like the smell of electric, old cartoons, silent films, rickety old reels and all that old Victoriana stuff, old ghost trains... you know the Torchwood episode about the spooky creatures who lived on cinema film? THAT sort of thing.

What you were like in high school?
I think naturally I've always been quite a bossy person; a 'natural leader'. I invented the games in the playground and told people what they had to do... always diplomatically and people always had a say, of course! But I seemed to called the shots, socially - if there was anything to be happening in our group I had to be involved in it, like. I'd get everyone down the field at lunchtimes, have people over to my house after tea... that sort of thing. If stuff was going on without me I'd be so upset, but that hardly ever happened, probably 'cause nobody would bother to organise anything. That side of me got a bit subdued by the time I started secondary school though. So many older kids, loads of bullies... I got a lot more self-conscious because people just wouldn't stop reminding me of my faults. I don't think I really changed much but my leadership skills were just used to direct a much smaller group, haha. I can take the lead if I'm happy and not threatened, it seems. As I got older and gathered my gang of girls, we were a force to be reckoned with, even getting accused of bullying ourselves once or twice when we had grudges against someone... I was always as 'nice' as I could be though, and always wanted to sort out problems between friends. I managed to avoid fights, mostly. I wasn't the coolest of kids but I think I was popular - I had lots of separate groups of mates. I had my main gang with whom I did all the naughty things like sneaking out of school and setting fire to bushes, then others who I'd only ever chat to in lessons but still got invited to their parties, then another group I'd tag along with to do nerdy stuff like chamber choir and school plays... I think by the end of school I was grudgingly respected by some of the cooler ones because I was musical and liked good bands, haha. Even though by then I was going around in my full-length coat and tiara and was generally known as 'The Undertaker' and 'Davison, you evil goffick.' I was pretty emo, had a few problems with my temper... I remember storming out of a lot of lessons and having lots of arguments with my friends. I was quite academic; good at arts, humanities and languages (got A*s and As for geography, English, German, graphics), not so apt as things got more logical (Bs for biology and business studies, Cs for maths, physics and chemistry). I did my drama GCSE a year early, so must've shown some aptitude for acting. I did AS level drama, too. My exams were a weird, weird time. I could NOT revise. Just couldn't do it. I remember crying a lot, in practically every lesson. I'd cry to Mr B (my favourite teacher), 'I'm going to faaail!' Ugh, so much pressure. College was amazing. I'll shut up now though.

( The others  )

Last cigarette: Midnight, July 1st 2007.

Last kiss: I placed one on my sleeping day-old niece’s head.

Last good cry: When I looked at my niece for the first time.

Last library book checked out: I can't remember, I haven't borrowed from a library since I lived in Hythe I don't think! I just buy books these days, and borrow from friends.

Last movie seen: The Runaway Bride was on telly t'other night. I want to see Toy Story.

Last book read: Currently reading about 6. Nearly finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Last cuss word uttered: Fuckin’ ell, I think I said. Probably about the flea on my arm.

Last beverage drank: Coffee, black ‘n’ strong… probably not wise at 1:18am, but oh well.

Last food consumed: A sugar-free gingerbread man.

Last phone call: From me to Katy, to see what’s going down in Hythe tomorrow night.

Last tv show watched: Supersize Vs Superskinny.

Last shoes worn: Brown slouchy boots.

Last cd played: The Burial of Thebes, a play.

Last item bought: A red bucket to contain my dirty cleaning cloths in the car.

Last downloaded: A picture of my dogs from my Photobucket account.

Last annoyance: A FLEA. ON MY ARM.

Last disappointment: Seeing that pesky flea, after I was so sure I’d beaten them!

Last soda drank: A swig of flat lemonade earlier today. Yuck.

Last thing handwritten: Shopping list, and some scrawled notes for my assignment at the bottom.

Last word spoken: “G’night!” to Anna.

Last sleep: Earlier this afternoon, I was cleaning all day so I came home and jumped in the shower, lay down on my bed to read and chill and ended up having an unexpected nap.

Last IM: Ah I don’t really bother with these any more. Only use MSN if Leeps is online. So yeah, it was prolly Leeps. Ages ago.

Last weird encounter: Steve and me went to the park for a walk the other night and ended up shooting the breeze for about three hours. I think we had a few revelations about the human race. Weird in a good way. Also a lady in Sainsbury's asked me if I 'danced'. I said, 'Sort of.' Which was a silly thing to say, because I dance all the damn time. She said it was obvious in the way I stand, that it was 'so feminine', which is 'nice'. Awww.

Last ice cream eaten: Crunchie ice lolly. Delicious.

Last amused: Supersize Vs Superskinny. A lady described ballet as ‘the hardest exercise I’ve ever done!’ I lol’d because my thighs are killing from the pliés I was doing to Combichrist in the lounge last night.

Last time wanting to die: I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to die. I’ve wanted to not exist, which is very different. The last time I wanted to not exist was very early Sunday morning, after a great party. Only for a brief moment though. Then I just cried and thought, ‘I better get my brain somewhere happy, sharpish.’ But couldn’t ‘cause I’d been drinking. Aaah. Always happens to me, this. Actually considering knocking the drinking on the head.

Last time in love: Oh that’s a bloody great can of worms. Let’s not.

Last time hugged: Oh man, I’ve been hugging a lot of family members this week, can’t remember who was last!

Last time scolded: When I scolded, or when I was scolded? I was scolded by Mum, about three weeks ago. Haha. I scolded Didz about half an hour ago for putting a flea on me.

Last chair sat in: This sofa? What a question.

Last lipstick used: MAC, Mellow Flame. That was a while ago too.

Last top worn: A pea-green vest top.

Current clothes: Brown t-shirt with the neck cut off, with a greenish logo saying ‘Ron Jon Surf Shop.’ Black leggings. Black net skirt. Socks and slippers. Black cardigan.

Current mood: Tired as hell, actually.

Current music: Radio One’s Essential Mix live from Ibiza. They've been playing Ibiza hits on the radio all day today. I’ve always wanted to go to Ibiza. But not with everyone else who goes to Ibiza.

Current taste: Coffee, a smidge of sugar-free gingerbread man after-taste.

Current hair: Clean, short, natural colour (dark brown), black bow... lame. In fact, I was bitching about my hair earlier and took a picture. It's boooring. I'm getting some mad stuff done to it in September though.



Current smell: House?

Current thing I should be doing: Assignment 6! Argh.

Current refreshment: Coffee.

Current worry: Assignment 6. My car, which is in the garage, having stuff done to it that my wallet will very much dislike.