14 Things That I Absolutely Love!!!. . .besides writing. (wait what?)

good morning, Cyberspace!

It is officially the first Tuesday of February! Ack! Where has the time gone? Just yesterday we were starting the new year, and suddenly I’m back on the blogging train, rip-roaring past the I-Didn’t-Schedule-Any-Posts-Like-I-Had-Planned-To station.

Man, I love that station. I fly past it every week on my commute.

But anyway, today I’m coming at you all with a very special post, just in time for Valentine’s Day! (and yes, I am aware that I could have posted this NEXT week, when it is quite literally the day before Valentine’s Day, but seriously now, who do you even think I am? Normal? Blech.) I’m not sure if I’ve ever had the chance to mention this before, but I absolutely love Valentine’s Day.

Yes, it is basically just a big commercial holiday in which couples are disgustingly lovey-dovey in public and all the single ladies people cry a little too dramatically into their heart-shaped truffles.

Yes, it really serves no purpose other than for sappy lovebirds to buy giant plush teddy bears and aforementioned over-priced heart-shaped truffles.

Yes, it is really just one of the most pointless holidays in existence.

HOWEVER. I still love it.

I don’t know what it is about Valentine’s Day, guys. I just really, really, really love it. Perhaps it’s because my family’s always sort of celebrated it as a day to spend showing a little extra love to each other, rather than celebrating it as a holiday for people in relationships. Perhaps it is because my brother and I once bought this really weird game called Freaky Forms on Valentine’s Day, and we spent the entire day playing it and building weird characters with awkward, spindly limbs.

Perhaps it is because we usually make a cherry cheesecake every Valentine’s Day and HAVE I EVER MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE ME A GOOD CHEESECAKE BECAUSE I REALLY ReALLY LOVE CHEESCAKE.

In a nutshell, nothing bad has ever happened to me on Valentine’s Day. In fact, looking back on them all, I can honestly say that each and every one of them fills me with the warm fuzzies.

Which probably helps explain why I love this rather pointless little holiday so much.

And so, in honor of the holiday that some people love and other people despise with all the fiery hatred of Mount Doom, I have decided to whip up a post of 14 things that I absolutely LOOOOOOVE. . .besides writing.

Because believe it or not, there actually are some things in existence that I love besides sitting down in a chair and pounding a world out of my head. And obviously writing books and stories and creating worlds is still my ultimate dream — hence the reason why writing books and stories and creating worlds is all I ever talk about on here. . . (*insert moment of silence for all the other hobbies that have been completely forgotten*) — but sometimes it’s nice to broaden your horizons, you know? Talk about something other than how terrible your writer’s block is at the moment.

Which is why this post exists. Today, I’m going to be giving you guys a bit of a rounder look at the things I love. Because somewhere beneath all of this zoning out and tippity-tapping and staring blankly at the crumbling walls whilst trying to figure out the perfect name for a psychotic nutcase, I actually do have a life.

. . . I think.

• • •

14 Things I Absolutely Love!!! . . . besides writing.

Number One – . . . playing video games . . .

And not just casually playing video games, either. No no, I go full-on obsession mode.

My life basically consists of two phases, and two phases only. Playing Video Games, or Not Playing Video Games. When I’m not currently into playing video games, that’s when I become extremely productive and get all my writing goals done and actually talk to people outside of my family circle.

(#whatisfriendship)

When I am playing video games, however. . .I become the video game.

Once I have become obsessed, there is literally no force on planet earth that can pry my butt out of that chair and prevent me from selling my freshly caught fish for petty cash and annoying my mutant animal villagers and catching Pokémon in Poke Balls and fighting other Pokémon to the death until they faint and basically living in a pixelated world until my eyeballs shrivel up like raisins in my skull.

It’s quite sad, actually. But holy guacamole is it fun.

In case any of you are wondering, I am currently obsessed with two games, (which sort of possibly explains my absence on the blogosphere since Thursday??? maybe??? no???):

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

and. . .

Pokémon Blue

And for those of you who haven’t played it before, Animal Crossing is literally the most AMAZING game in the entire world, and YOU MUST PLAY IT IMMEDIATELY, PEASANTS, OR SUFFER THE WRATH OF MY ETERNAL FURY.

Only then shall you truly understand the obsession. . . (mwahahahahaha)

Number Two – . . . good, clean books . . .

Okay, okay, so this one is kind of a gimme. OBVIOUSLY I’m going to absolutely love books. I’m a writer. It comes standard in all Writer packages.

However, notice the ‘good’ and the ‘clean’ tags up there. These words are important. Extremely important.

In today’s day and age, it is completely impossible for me to go into a bookstore, grab a book off the shelf, and buy it without feeling about 82.9% extreme anxiety over what ‘oopsies’ I’m going to find within that beautifully deceiving cover of a potato plant.

(apparently I’m buying cookbooks now.)

So those two little words — good and clean? Those words are necessary. Because I’ll let you in on a little secret, folks:

I have a tendency to hate books.

Now maybe hate is a strong word choice, but when all the books I ever stumble across either have the Big Oopsie or the Foul-Tongued Fiend (or even both for maximum pontification of how ‘mature’ the writer is [#fun!]), I tend to get just plain tired of reading in general, because it seems like there is literally nothing out there for a reader who just wants a good, clean story about adventures and friendships and fantastical realms.

(also, to get a closer look at this annoyance in the book world from a writer’s perspective, I’d highly recommend checking out my awesome friend Kate’s post about rebelling against the norm! [I believe there’s also a hashtag involved {#rebelliouswriting, if I’m correct. . .} so I’d also check that out, too! I’m probably going to do a post about this whole thing from a writer’s viewpoint in the hopefully near-ish future, but I’m not supposed to be talking about writing right now. . .so. . . #oops?)

But something that I need to focus on is that there are good, clean books out there! For instance, I’m currently reading a book by Andrew Peterson called On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and let me tell you, folks, this book is SO. GOOD. I’m not all that far into it yet, but I can already tell that it is going to be waaaaaaay up on my list of favorite series’ of all time. It’s fantastical. It’s whimsical. It’s FUNNY.

Holy Tater Tots is this book funny! Seriously, it’s a 10/10 recommend, and I’m not even halfway through it. If you’re looking for an awesome fantasy read, I HIGHLY recommend this one.

(it also has toothy cows, guys. TOOTHY. COWS.)

So yes. I absolutely love books like this one. They give me the warm fuzzies without any heebie-jeebies, and in a world where everything is filled with the heebie-jeebers, it is quite refreshing to my poor innocent eyes.

Number Three – . . . Steve . . .

“Now wait just a minute,” you say, scratching your soggy noggin with a stubbly finger and squinting at the name posted above as if your single eyeball is deceiving you, “who on barnacle hill is STEVE?”

Ah. Good question, my friend. Good question, indeed.

Steve is. . . well . . . he’s Steve.

I met Steve on Hiatus — January 13th, to be exact (because this is necessary information to post on the internet, apparently) — and let me just say that he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my entire puny existence.

Steve is crazy. Steve is weird. Steve is a little bit too obsessed with stripes, but whatever. Stripes are cool, right? I like stripes. You like stripes.

Steve really likes stripes. It’s almost scary.

Steve is kind of a freak, actually.

(just kidding hahahahaha he’s perfection. I love my Steve.)

Number Four – . . . typewriters . . .

UGH, I LOVE TYPEWRITERS.

I mean, this kind of breaks my rule of things I love besides writing, but hey. A typewriter is not writing. It’s just a tool that is commonly used. . .for writing. . .(?)

JUST LET ME HAVE THIS ONE, PLEASE, I’M BEGGING YOU

Anyway. Typewriters. I love their clickety-clicky-ness. I love their old-fashioned-ness. I love their inky ribbon-ness. I love that adorable DING! sound they make once you come to the end of your line, like its somehow cheering you on to keep going because it’s a typewriter and typewriters are optimistic creatures by nature.

And not only are typewriters basically amazing, miraculous machines in general, but they also prevent you from accidentally looking up your Twitter feed thirty-thousand times while you’re trying to write your book. #bonuspoints

 

Number Five – . . . drawing . . .

Ah, yes. Drawing.

Am I good at it? Aha…hahaha…no.

But do I still love it, anyway? WHY YES. YES, I DO.

It’s taken me an extremely long time — longer than I care to admit, actually — to realize that my artistic style is not, nor will it ever be, realistic. I’m terrible at trying to draw a human face, or a warbly tree, or basically anything that looks like it might have been living in this here mortal world at some point in time.

However, if you want a tiny little chibi person, or a cute smol pickle without any arms that wants a hug, then LO AND BEHOLD, IT IS I — THE ARTIST THOU HAST BEEN LOOKING FOR.

I’m a little disappointed that I’ll never be able to draw the realistic portrait of George Washington, though. Life dream = shattered.

(I have been told multiple times, however, that I am unnaturally good at drawing caricatures. #PoorBulbous-NosedWonky-EyedGeorge)

Number Six – . . . watercolor painting . . .

I feel like I might have mentioned my love of painting on this blog before, but either way, this one sort of goes right along with Number Five. Because what better way to immortalize your happy little sketches than by turning them into a watercolor painted, hand-made notebook for future writing usage? Ah??? AH???

BAD KENZIE. NO TALKING ABOUT WRITING.

And it’s just a bonus cherry on top of the chocolate ice cream sundae that I absolutely love to paint with watercolors! Especially when I put on the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack while I paint. That music magically teleports me straight back in time, and I can just sit there like the unaware princess that I am, pretending like I’m living in the era of Anne Shirley and The Five Little Peppers. . .

And also Elizabeth Bennet, obviously. Because it’s the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack and I’m normal.

Number Seven – . . . MORIARTY!!!!!! ASDFGHJKL!!!!! . . .

Does this. . .does this even need an explanation? I don’t think this one even needs an explanation. . .

If it does, I have obviously not been obsessing enough and am a failure at life.

Number Eight – . . . dares . . .

Oh lookie there! A fact you guys probably didn’t already know!

(or perhaps you do already know this. . . [I’m looking straight at you, Dare Squad.])

But the fact remains that I — The Kenzie — absolutely love dares. Fun dares. Weird dares. Eating an Oreo dipped in Pizza Hut marinara sauce kind of dares.

I’m up for any and all of them.

As long as they don’t involve me dying, of course.

I like life. Life is good.

Number Nine – . . . my family . . .

It is a 100% proven fact that there is literally no family on this earth that is more amazing than mine. My family is fun. My family is awesome.

My family is the weirdest bunch of people you’re ever going to meet, and I absolutely love them more than life itself.

I really don’t know what I’d do without these guys. It might sound unnatural to some people, but the members of my little family are my very bestest friends. They’re my absolute favorite people to be around, and I am so beyond thankful that God squished us all together under one roof. We might be slowly going insane because of it, but we’re all slowly going insane together.

#goals

Number Ten – . . . my bird puff . . .

You guys probably already know this, but I am the extremely proud bird-mommy of a very quirky, very ornery, very adorable little bird puff named Durachi. And let me just tell you — he is absolutely crazy.

And I love him.

Spending time with Durachi is one of my most favorite things to do. He gives me birdie kissies. He lets me talk to him. He bites me and flies away when I’m trying to give him birdie kissies. He nibbles on his shoelaces. He sings me songs when I’m holding up a list of fruits and vegetables.

That little bird is literally everything to me, and my life is so, so much richer with him in it.

Number Eleven – . . . music . . .

WOW. I LOVE MUSIC???

NO. WAY.

I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED THIS.

NOT IN A MILLION YEARS.

But alas. It is true, my friends. I love music. In fact, when I’m not zoning out whilst trying to plot world domination within my stories, I’m zoning out to a good playlist of music whilst wasting away mass hours of my life with literally no intention of ever moving again.

It’s quite fun, actually.

However, not only do I enjoy listening to music, I also enjoy playing music. Particularly on my violin.

I’m not exactly the best at filleting my fingers on the strings yet, but I’m having fun and learning, and I think that’s all that matters when teaching yourself an instrument, yes?

Yes?

. . .no?

OKAY, WELL I’M TRYING HERE, BOB.

Besides, I keep running into the extremely discouraging predicament of needing a second set of arms to play the harmony to Who You Really Are from Sherlock.

Any mediocre violinists out there willing to come over and play with me? Please?

Maybe?

Perhaps I can learn how to play the violin with my feet. . .

(side-note: the song I am currently obsessing over while I write this post is Don’t Ever Forget from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness. I haven’t actually played this game yet, but OH MY WORD THIS SONG IS FANTASTIC. Look it up. Right now.)

Number Twelve – . . . singing . . .

This one sort of goes with eleven (EGGO WAFFLES ASDFGHJKL!!!!), but whatever. It’s getting its own number because it’s just that cool.

This is something that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned on my blog, but today is a day of professing my love, apparently, so here we go:

I love to sing. A lot.

In fact, I sing so much that I think my smol family members have kind of just learned to tune me out entirely at this point. Which is totally understandable, because seriously, guys, I sing a lot.

I sing when I’m brushing my hair. I sing when I’m playing with my bird. (he thinks I’m crazy.) I sing when playing video games. I sing to myself when walking through Meijer. (I was not singing during the $60 Skeleton Scandal, however.) I sing while writing this blog post. I sing while brushing my teeth. (#skills)

Basically, any time I have a free moment, I’m singing.

Except not when I’m around my friends. Because believe it or not I’m a shy fry and don’t actually like singing in front of people I know because no.

(Meijer people are different. Meijer people are weird.)

So yes. I love to sing. And also play the bongos.

In fact, I did this super awesome cover once of City of Stars from La La Land, in which I sang whilst playing the bongos. (#skillsagain)

It was glorious. It was perfection.

You shall never see it.

Number Thirteen – . . . spring . . .

This one actually shocks me, to be honest, but it is something that I have come to realize about myself over the past couple of months:

I love spring.

I used to think I was a summer or fall kind of girl. I was born at the end of summer, and fall is simply glorious with all of its falling leaves and crisp sweaters and yummy pumpkin-y smells, but something inside of me just keeps whispering spring.

I’m not a huge fan of wind, but cloudy skies and torrential rain? Those are my kind of days. I love rain. I love puddles. I love looking out at an overcast horizon and imagining all the dragons soaring behind those murky clouds.

I love spring. Call me a weirdo, but it is true.

Number Fourteen – . . . COOKIES . . .

I bet you guys didn’t even see this one coming.

Oh wow, I am so unpredictable. I am like a Jedi Knight. Or a spy. Or Bond. James Bond.

(*has no idea who james bond even is*)

But yes. Though it be unbelievable, though it be impossible. . .I love cookies.

Cookies are delicious. Cookies are life. Cookies are filled with delicious chips that are not made of potato and fill me with such delight that I bop around like a penguin whilst eating them.

I’m pretty sure cookies are what fill my veins, to be honest. Who needs blood when you have sugar and milk and raw eggs coursing beneath your skin, amiright?

I am so healthy

And you know the absolute best thing to do with cookies?

Fling them.

I haven’t actually flung any cookies yet, but whatever. It will happen someday. Someday when people are not expecting an Oreo cookie that tastes like a stupid Fruity Pebble to be flung at their face. . .

(why, yes. there is a story behind this fruity pebble oreo. .stay tuned for that, dear beans.)

• • •

And that’s it for the 14 Things I Absolutely Love Besides Writing list! I’m sure you all probably could have guessed each and every thing on here, but that’s perfectly okay. Today is not a day to be unpredictable, but rather a day to profess my love for ALL OF THE THINGS. However, seeing as though there were a few special items that did not make it onto the list (since I could only do fourteen [#ValentinesDayReference]), allow us to take a short moment to acknowledge our honorable mentions:

• mountains
• peanut M&M’s
• Doctor Who
• balloon pants
• twitter (#procrastination)
• stuffed animals (especially my pooh bear)
• warm fuzzy blankets
• ALL OF THE NOTEBOOKS
• COLORS!!!!!
• Moriarty
• Jane Austen novels
• hats!
• Moriarty
• soft, fluffy snowflakes
• HufflePuff sweaters

and last but never the least. . .

• Moriarty.

Wow. That was an amazing list that totally had to be added onto this already 3,000 word long post. Such amazingness. Much wow.

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talk to me, peasants!

So! That’s all I’ve got for today, folks! I probably could have done a better editing job had I actually scheduled posts back in January like I was supposed to do, but apparently Past Kenzie doesn’t do anything she’s told. Curse you, Past Kenzie.

But enough about my terrible past self. Let’s talk about you! What are some things that YOU love? Do you have any adorable pets? Any unhealthy obsessions? Do you enjoy playing video games? (and if so, HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED ANIMAL CROSSING OR POKEMON BECAUSE ASDFGHJKL COME SQUEAL WITH ME.) What’s your favorite season? Do you like Valentine’s Day, or would you rather throw it in a box and ship it off to the Himalayan mountains? Let us talk about ALL OF THE THINGS down in the comments below!

And as always, until next time. . .

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*