Nostalgic Week Brought to You By

 This week in one of my writing groups, author Abigail Falanga was asking nostalgic questions every day for her daily subject questions. I loved this week so much that I wanted to share my answers. On Saturday night, I thanked Abigail for doing this, letting her know she inspired this blog. I was curious what Sunday (the final day) would have in store, so I asked. She asked if I had any suggestions, and she loved what I had in mind. These are her usual subjects for the week:

  • Monday Music
  • Tuesday Tea Time
  • Wednesday Wonder
  • Thursday Thrill
  • Friday Fandom
  • Saturday Scholar
  • Sunday Fun Day
I didn't have an answer for all of them though. Here's what I have: 

Monday Music: I think I'll declare this Nostalgia Week!: So, first up: What was your favorite song from your childhood/teen years? Or band/album?: My favorite band as a kid/teen was Simple Plan. My favorite album by them was No Pads, No Helmet... Just Balls, and on that album was my favorite song, I'd Do Anything.
I didn't add this part in the group, but Simple Plan is still one of my favorite bands, and I'd Do Anything is still one of my top favorite songs.
Wednesday Wonder: What was something, no matter how small, from your childhood that filled you with wonder or made you believe in magic?: My stuffed rabbit named Bunny (first stuffed animal I named and still have. He looks incredibly war-torn now, but I would take him anywhere and everywhere. If he was with me as I got older (into my teens and even adult-ish ages) I still believed that as long as he was with me I'd be okay. The last picture he was in before his war-torn appearance was when I was eleven, before I was abused.
Comments: Heather E.: I love the story of the Velveteen Rabbit. My ragged, faded Popples is much-love and Real, to this day. Me: (pic added) Every mother figure in my life has sewn him up a bit. Abigail: A most excellent, honorable, venerable Bunny! 🧑
Thursday Thrill: What kind of adventures did you do as a child? Camping, amusement parks, daring quests across the neighborhood past bedtime, sports, cooking...?: My dad and his family loved taking my sister and I camping every summer. We always camped in tents. Dad and his family, after I moved in often went to the Puyallup Fair. My mom liked camping and took us camping in cabins and anything but a tent.
Top memories with Dad: camping with one of my best friends from high school and family as Dad gave my sister, best friend, and I boy advice (and a boy was helping him prove his point without knowing it), camping in covered wagons, and once at the fair, I was with Dad's wife and we were by this place where they have your names on marbles. I looked at her and muttered, "Why are we here? They don't have my name." Well the vender heard me and piped up, "Try me. What's your name?" Told him. "And how do you spell it?" Told him and he pulls out three marbles with my name spelled my way. Of course, we had to buy one. I still have it.
There are two stories I remember best about camping with Mom and our family. We were going to camp in our Uncle's RV with him and his wife. He took us (my sister and I) food shopping, and because he had no kids of his own he bought all the junk food we swore Mom would be okay with. She was not, and he got chewed out. Then when I was visiting from Dad's we went camping Mom took us and our dog camping. After the dog was taken home by her husband (at the time) for being too rowdy, my siblings and I witnessed a bird dying on the cabin porch. Mom gave it a small funeral to help us deal with seeing death for the first time. And on that camping trip Mom was proudest of me for having no attachment to chargeable electronics.
I wrote all of that in the group, but after all of that I remembered a lot more about most of those moments. I remember that my best friend came with us because my older brother couldn't. He had to work. On the covered wagons trip, we had to cross Deception Pass, my now favorite bridge in photos of Washington state. In case I didn't mention this before, we got to sleep in the covered wagons. My older brother found a crab claw still attached to its tendon, so he made shadow puppets with it and made it sing. Dad had brought his motorcycle on the trip. I still have pictures from that trip. On the RV trip with Mom and our family, I was very attached to my CD player and Avril Lavigne's Let Go album, and my favorite song on the album that I listened to on repeat at full blast was Anything but Ordinary. I recently told my mom (biological) about this question and my answers, and she totally forgot about the bird's funeral that she did for us, but she remembered that Rocky (our dog at the time) was too rowdy. Initially, she thought that Rocky and the bird were different trips, but I reminded her. Other things I remember about it was there was mini golf and a pool. I still have a picture Mom took of my writing in bed next to my CD player.



This is a picture of Rocky, but I don't have any pictures of him on that trip. 
Friday Fandom: What was your top fandom as a kid? The thing your loved/obsessed over/didn't miss an installment of/ etc.?: I was thoroughly obsessed with the Maximum Ride series, Kim Possible, Static Shock, Teen Titans. And, as an optional follow-up: How did that fandom and that thing you loved influence what you are today?: They all influenced not only who I am as a person but they all heavily influenced my writing. I'm still in love with all of the above. If you don't want me talking your ear off for at least an hour don't ask what I think or feel about them. πŸ˜…
Comments: Abigail: I REALLY need to read some of the Maximum Ride books! They're so interesting! Me: Would you read the novels or manga?
Abigail: Probably whatever I can find at the library that's chronologically earliest!
Me: I can give you the chronological order. πŸ˜… I'm pretty obsessed lol
Saturday Scholar: What was the book that really got you into reading as a kid?: My parents read books to me almost since I was born to a teen. The first book I can remember starting my reading addiction was Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. This was another where I remembered more after I posted it. Dad told me that when I was a baby that he would have me pick out books as soon as I was able. If he had already read that book, he'd tell me to pick one he hadn't read yet, and I'd be able to pick one he hadn't read on the first try. Mom read books like The Magic Treehouse series, Artemis Fowl, Eragon, the Harry Potter series. Mom was actually so into the Harry Potter series she'd read chapters ahead after we had gone to bed. When Mom was pregnant with E, his dad read Harry Potter to Jess and me. We gave him a hard time because he couldn't do the voices for the characters like Mom. All of that also led to me reading Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfics I didn't write aloud to my Mom. Not only did it give me confidence, but Mom gave me writing advice sometimes based on what the writers did.

Nostalgia Week concluded! (a day late, because I only thought of this theme on Monday πŸ˜„) Sunday Fun Stuff: What was your favorite thing to do outside as a kid? Add more and share stories suggested by Kaylyn Gabbert (I was tagged in the post): Since it was a poll I chose play pretend, hang out with friends, swim, and exploring new places. I had to start swimming for physical therapy to help with my Cerebral Palsy. But I wanted to learn more than just kicking my legs. I wanted to float on my back like my friends, so my best friend helped teach me by holding me up while I laid on my back in the water. As I got more comfortable she slowly let go. Also my best friend and I met while we lived in the same apartment building. There we were always exploring and playing pretend. It started with playing Digimon, and the other most memorable fame of pretend was pretending we were on a deserted island. 😊
Comments:

Abigail: That sounds lovely! There's something really wonderful about learning to float

This week of nostalgia was brought to you by: Heroes, Fairies, and Scholars


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