What would you do if you won the lottery? Pay off my house, pay off my bills, pay off my student loans, pay off all the debt, put a large chunk into a savings account, purchase a few material things that make us happy, purchase a few necessities (like a new car and food), make sure our fur-babies are well taken care of, and probably take a nice trip somewhere, just the two of us.
What makes you laugh the most? I laugh a lot. I think it makes life enjoyable, especially when things seem bleak and more challenging than you think you can handle. Most anything can make me laugh: a random fart at an inopportune moment, either in person or on television; television shows and films, which is usually what is making me laugh (most recently, it was Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt); a good book; kids just being kids with all the innocence and lack of knowledge they tend to have in certain situations and with certain words and phrases that they use incorrectly or that they use when they don't know the real meaning behind it, and I shouldn't explain it to them. Usually, though, if I'm being honest--my husband makes me laugh the most.
What is your biggest pet peeve with modern technology? I think my biggest pet peeve with modern technology doesn't have to do with the technology itself, but rather us, and it's that we've become so reliant on modern technology. I fully admit that I have. I tend to say that I hate talking to people, and that's not fully true--I don't enjoy talking on the phone, but I do enjoy talking to people. However, with modern technology, I've become this recluse that prefers to use texting and social media to stay in contact with people, shielding myself from the world whenever I'm feeling disgusted with myself or inadequate or disconnected from the world, which has been the case lately. Modern technology is great, honestly, and it provides a wealth of accessibility to the world, which has wonderful benefits, but it's only a two- or three-dimensional accessibility, and what many people need (myself included) is to step out of the home and into the sun and actually speak to people face-to-face, actually experience the world around us. I say this from the darkness of my office where I've lit a candle and am sitting in pajamas pondering what I'm going to try and write today while refraining from communicating with people today that I know I should reach out to. Baby steps.
Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? I received a small token of clarification about a change in my life last week, and it's suppose to be visible this week. So, that's what I'm looking forward to--a visual representation that I've obtained a paying job which will start this August: My first teaching position in an elementary classroom! The principal and the staff have all been telling me for weeks now how excited they are about me coming on board. I already have a classroom, though my name isn't on it yet. My future co-workers have already begun placing things in there for me that they no longer need/want but think I might find useful. But, I haven't received concrete confirmation that I've secured the position, and that's been, perhaps, the most frustrating reason for recent depression and stress. Once that concrete confirmation is in (hopefully today), I believe things will be (and feel) so much better!
Author
Born and bred in a small town, Tony now helms from a suburb just outside Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Phoenix and plans to guide young creative minds through the joyful wonders of writing as regularly as possible. In what little downtime he has, Tony writes as often as possible, acts in community theatre productions around Birmingham, dabbles in filmmaking through acting and writing, and more. He is the creator and co-writer of "the Park bench," a new webseries from Background People Productions coming in 2017. Tony has a deep love for music, movies, television, tacos, Greek yogurt and Yankee Candle candles. His website can be found at tonylovell.weebly.com. His books Bedbug's Writing: A Collection of Short Stories + Poetry, Volume One; Bad Words: Bedbug's Writing, Volume Two; and MMMMM., are available now in paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon.