The Skye and the Lake

 - What you think about your friends?

I wouldn’t be friends with them if there wasn’t a reason.

And apparently I can’t count because I missed Day 26.

 - Who are you?

I am Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham and I END MESSES!

Wait… no, that’s not right.  If you’ve been reading this then you should have a fairly decent grasp of who I am.  That isn’t to say that you know everything about me, not by a long shot, but you know the basics.

 - In this past month, what have you learned?

I don’t like pesto in rice.  Baker, seriously Eww. And don’t call it “Asian Rice”.  Just because it’s rice doesn’t make it Asian.  Also, pesto is Italian.  Stupid Americans…

 - A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

Last summer (2009).

This summer (2010).

Well… long hair versus short hair, and at some point the necklace that I always wear changed from the silver heart to the tiger’s eye frog.  Summer at home repainting the kitchen (hence the splatter on my face) versus a summer all alone on the lake working as a conservation educator.  That’s just going off the pictures.

 - Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?

Because it seemed interesting enough.

 - What I would find in your bag?

Depends on which bag you check. 

Little shoulder bag usually has a phone, keys, knife and gold card (if they aren’t in my pocket) along with my wallet, and car keys.

Field bag usually has a notebook or two, a few pens, pencils, a pair of earrings, loose change, a trees field guide, a flowers field guide, a botany text book, and a forests book.  There are also other chances for other field guides, my sketch pad and pens, drinks and snacks.  The little shoulder bag stuff gets transferred in to specific pockets in the field bag in case anything were to happen.  Sometimes I also carry a lighter because you never know when you need fire.  Sadly, I usually keep my rope in the car.  If I think about it, I add my first aid kit.

Computer bag sometimes has my computer and power cord, along with an assortment of random stuff.  It gets its own notebook and pencils.  I also usually put whatever book we’re reading in my World Literature class or my Environmental Methods textbook in there as well. 

 - A letter to your parents.

Parentals,

I appreciate it.  Now bugger off.

Much love,

Me

Willow crawl in to Liz’s sweatshirt.  It was amusing.

 - Something you crave for a lot.

Really good music.  Or cuddle time, even if its just with the rats.

 - What makes you different from everyone else.

My genetics.

 - A picture of something that makes you happy.

Well… I could post my viola again, or a picture of my girlfriend, or of my rats (this is in no particular order).  I’ll post a picture of Fiona and Willow as soon as I get a good picture of them online.

 - Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future.

My girlfriend.  ‘Nuff said.

 - Nicknames you have; why do you have them.

Rie - Riss was too lazy to type out my whole name on AIM.  Interestingly enough, another friend did the same thing a few days later.  And it stuck.  They started calling me “Rie” in school and it spread to some people.  Others picked up on it.  There are very few people who call me Rie, but because of that it gets my attention really well because I’m always surprised to hear it.

Skye - (This is taken from Day 2) Skyerana is the nickname that my ex-boyfriend gave me for one of the stories that he was writing.  I’ll admit that I initially wasn’t so happy with it, but it grew on me with time.  Eventually I adopted it as my pen name and started using it for other things as well.  I now answer as readily to “Skye” as I do to my given name.  I have a few friends in high school who call me by nothing else.  So, this is as close to my name as I usually get online, because its still me.

 - Plans/dreams/goals you have.

• Set foot on every continent at least once (Yes I am including Antarctica in this)
• Visit every US State at least once.
• Post-graduation: go on a road trip around the US and stop wherever I feel like it.
• Own my own wildlife rehab and public education center.
• Be the first in my family to have a PhD.
• Publish a fictional work, whether its a collection of short stories, one of my satires, or whatever, I don’t care.
• Continue playing in orchestra post-college.
• Have a family.

 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.

There really isn’t anyone that I’d want to switch with for a day.  All things considered, my life is quite wonderful, minus a few things that I really shouldn’t complain about anyway.  I suppose that if I was going to switch lives with someone, I’d switch with someone who had a really shitty life to make me appreciate my own even more.  Of course, I’d feel really guilty about not helping that person out more and forcing them to see how much their life sucks after living a day in my life so I’d probably have to go find them and give them a hand.

Also, would I gain all that person’s life experiences and remember them after the day?  If so, then it wouldn’t really matter who I switched with because that would give you a really interesting perspective on life no matter who you switched with.

 - Another picture of yourself.

I think I need to find more recent pictures of myself… This one will do though.

Photo courtesy of Polly McMullin, and The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA

This is me and Onyx the Black Rat Snake.  Onyx was surprisingly good that day, considering he could barely see because he was getting ready to shed.  This photo was posted in The Daily News as part of their article on National Marina Day and RayCEP.  I also made it on the radio that day, though the radio host wouldn’t come near me until I pulled out a Northern fence lizard and the snake was safely away.