saturday 9: roar

Saturday 9: Roar
(recommended by Cat)

i was just listening to this song yesterday, over and over, singing along within the safe confines of my car. 🙂

1) The lyrics begin with Katy singing about when she used to “hold her tongue.” Tell us about a time when you didn’t speak up, but wish you had.
this happens all the time with me. i guess the last time i regretted not speaking up was to defend a coworker. she’s new to our team, and she had come to me a few hours earlier saying that she felt like she couldn’t say what she thought–that she should just shut up and follow along. i told her not to do that, because her opinions are valued and help us to see other viewpoints. she said she felt like she was being mean and purposely arguing against everyone but she said that was not her intent–she really wanted to know, she wanted to learn. i told her she wasn’t being mean and assured her that her opinions and questions were helpful so don’t hold back. well. then we had our meeting. let’s just say it didn’t go very well. our “leader” of the group butted heads with this new person and it got to a point where she was very condescendingly shouting at the new person for all her questions. finally, the new person shut down and put her head down on the desk and turned away from everyone else. she didn’t say a single word the whole rest of the meeting. i felt so bad. i wanted to say something to defend her…but as usual i said nothing. i’m such a rotten coworker 😦 after the meeting that person came to me and said, “see? i shouldn’t say anything!” and i had to reassure her again that it was good that she spoke up because i’m sure the other 2 new people on our group had the same questions, and that it was us old-timers faults for not seeing it from their point of view but that it was good she was telling us how she felt because it makes us more aware. i may have only been speaking for myself but that’s truly how i felt. she nodded slowly and said okay. i kicked myself big time for not speaking up on her behalf. i vowed i would do it next time…but it’s hard when the other person is so controlling and unwavering. i admit, i shut down myself. but i know that is something i should change and since this person has trusted me enough to confide her feelings to me i think i need to step up and help her out. who knows? maybe i’ll be the one roaring 😛 well, perhaps not louder than a lion, but i’ve got to step up and speak out.

2) The lyrics mention both lions and tigers. In addition to the big cats, the video shows a monkey and an elephant. If we were going to the zoo today, which animal would you want to see first?
at our zoo we used to always see the elephants first (well, actually, you’d see the flamingos first, but i wouldn’t stay there too long). i’d just watch the two of them and be fascinated at these huge, majestic animals. but now i think they’ve been moved a bit further down to a bigger enclosure, so they wouldn’t be the first things to see–it’d probably be the monkeys. and i could watch them for hours, too, they’re so funny and playful. i could just plant myself outside of rusty and violet’s cage and watch them in awe.

3) Lions and tigers are carnivores. If we were having steak for dinner, would you order it rare, medium or well done?
medium rare, please! yum! i could go for a steak right now. 🙂

4) Lots of photos are snapped at the zoo. Did you take your last picture with a camera or with your phone?
my phone. well, actually, it was with my workplace’s iPad. we were doing a project with our buddies and i didn’t want to use my little phone so i grabbed and iPad to take the pictures. but gosh i haven’t used my camera in a long, long time. several years, i think. everything is by phone.

5) The “Roar” video takes place in the jungle. The average temperature all year around in the rainforest is a humid 80º. The typical September day in Juneau is 49º, dry and sunny. Which sounds more comfortable?
it’s been very hot and humid here, recently, especially where i work, where it’s just sweltering. i actually thought i was starting to experience hot flashes or something but then i realized others were just as hot as i was. 😛 it’s just that normally, i don’t feel heat (i get cold very easily, though) so the fact that i was actually feeling it and feeling sticky made me think that maybe i was getting hot flashes. but everyone else has been commenting on how hot it is so i guess it’s not that. i seriously don’t know if i could cope with 49 degree weather though!!! i get cold at 75 degrees. i don’t know how i can deal with 49!! i mean, in general, i’d rather be cooler than warm–you can always bundle up when cold, but you can’t totally disrobe when you’re hot–but i don’t know that i could stand 49 degrees! brrrr!

6) In her youth, Katy took dance lessons at the local recreation hall in Santa Barbara. Crazy Sam took tap dance lessons as a girl, too. What about you? Were you sent off to dance class? Music lessons? Art class?
all of those! after school, the neighborhood recreation center had a different class every day of the week, which ranged from art to ‘ukulele to cooking to hula. my mom signed us up for all those classes. the only one i really continued was the hula, although i’ve been thinking in recent years to sign up for some art classes. i think that would be fun.

7) Katy recently passed Justin Bieber as the most followed person on Twitter. What’s the last message you re-tweeted?
i don’t think i’ve ever retweeted anything. i just tweet random lyrics that are circling around my mind or seem to speak to me as i’m listening to songs. nothing noteworthy.

8) Congratulations! You just won the lottery! Do you want it in a lump sum, or would you prefer payments over the next 25 years?
thanks! i’d want it spread out, i think. i don’t have any big ticket items i want to buy right now–i’d just want enough to live off of (i’m not an extravagant person) and if it could be spread out over 25 years then great! 🙂

9) Did you get 8 hours sleep last night?
yes. a bit more, actually. saturdays i can sleep in and not be up before the sun rises! 🙂