I don't consider myself a scared person. Anxious, yes. I can worry wholeheartedly, work myself up over small things, interpret innocent comments in a self-critical way, and become nervous at any opportunity (although all of these things are less pronounced in my adult years than they were in my adolescence, thank goodness). But scared, well, it isn't what comes to mind when I think of myself.
However.
I startle easily.
Today, I thought I'd share some of the things that make me jump, quietly shriek, or otherwise take fright in a rather obvious manner.
For variety, I'm throwing in some phone photographed food too. I seem to have rather a lot of such photos and my computer is starting to groan when I add more images to the ever-expanding 'phone photographs' folder.
However.
I startle easily.
Today, I thought I'd share some of the things that make me jump, quietly shriek, or otherwise take fright in a rather obvious manner.
For variety, I'm throwing in some phone photographed food too. I seem to have rather a lot of such photos and my computer is starting to groan when I add more images to the ever-expanding 'phone photographs' folder.
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| Apple with chocolate avocado pudding, weetbix crunch bites, and cherries from America that I couldn't resist buying despite the air miles. |
Things that startle me
Mr Bite appearing in the kitchen when I think he's upstairs.
Mr Bite appearing upstairs when I think he's downstairs.
My water bottle on my desk out of the corner of my eye. (I thought it was a person. I appreciate this is illogical. Logic and fright aren't firm friends.)
The cord for the kitchen blind, swinging into my line of vision.
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| This looks like a mess. It tasted delicious. Sweet potato with a sundried tomato & olive veggie sausage. |
Unexpected irregularity in the ground when I'm running. Or walking. My feet don't adjust well to unexpected changes in the ground beneath them.
A feather flying into my head.
Mr Bite waiting behind me whilst I am hand washing, resulting in a person in the laundry mirror when I look up.
Any TV show featuring suspense. Not necessarily horror, just suspense.
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| Spot the chocolate coconut milk drink |
Grasshoppers hopping at me. We have had a family colony of grasshoppers in and around our house lately, so this has been a regular occurrence.
Balloons bursting. Or any similar noise.
The statue of a woman that has recently appeared in my neighbour's garage, and is just visible from our kitchen window. I sense that this statue and I are going to have a tumultuous relationship.
Seaweed hitting me in the sea.
The statue of a woman that has recently appeared in my neighbour's garage, and is just visible from our kitchen window. I sense that this statue and I are going to have a tumultuous relationship.
Seaweed hitting me in the sea.
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| My new work cup. It has a lid and a built in strainer. I like it very much. |
Perhaps, on reflection, I should re-think my belief that I'm not a scared person.
Tell me - what gives you a fright? I haven't listed it here, but I am also hopeless in horror movies and am even a bit daunted by horror-themed books.
Eep! Ground irregularities startle me too, mostly cause seconds later I may be a lot closer to the ground because I'm a total klutz! I actually bit it on a running route I do all the time last week--keeps me humble! lol! Also another startling thing is seeing the date on the top of your blog--scary--I actually had to stop and think that one through!
ReplyDeleteHehe, international date differences are one of those things my mind can never fully grasp :-) And I'm glad I'm not the only one to be thrown (sometimes literally!) by ground irregularities.
DeleteI, too, am a very jumpy person! The hubby is the greatest culprit! I've had innumerable incidences when my heart nearly failed me bc he would just "pop" out of nowhere! Sometimes, I feel like he does it on purpose..He gets a kick out of it. :( Why I oughta (with my fists in the air)...
ReplyDeleteI don't do scary movies, period. But of course, the hubby LOVES them. He records and watches them. I lock myself in my study and read.
Your comment made me laugh so much - just "popping" out of nowhere is exactly it! I don't think my partner intends to, he just seems to move very quietly :P
DeleteQuick, loud noises scare me so much. Popping balloons,fireworks, etc. So scary to me!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it isn't just me!
DeleteI don't mind scary movies, but I prefer ones involving vampires (actual scary vampires, not Twilight ones), zombies or aliens as the crazy person doing a home invasion thing is just a bit too real and anything involving knives creeps me out.
ReplyDeleteS is just like Mr Bite with the popping up unexpectadly thing. He did it to me twice last night. Those stealthy partners, they are tricky!
I scared myself with a black shopping bag as I walked in the door last night. Things you see out of the corner of your eye have great startling ability.
But the big one, the house creaking at night. When someone else is in the house, I don't even notice this, but if I'm alone - well I think it is a miracle that some windy nights I haven't called my parents/friends/the police.
S and Mr B would get on well :-) And yes - things out of the corner of your eye take on great powers!
DeleteThe house creaking at night gets me too, but of course only when I'm alone. It's amazing how much louder things are when others aren't around.
We would be great IRL friends lol. I'm SO FREAKIN JUMPY! EVERYTHING makes me jump or freaks me out. It's a miracle I get out of the house and am a functioning member of society.
ReplyDeleteBahaha...I sense it would be a jumpy friendship, even over the internet :-)
DeleteBalloons popping always makes me jump. I hate the noise they even make when the pop.
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteOh my word! Bugs!! Spiders epeciall! I turn into a kung-fu fighting ninja when they are around. I seem to have an infestation of wasps. They scare me too.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite movies to watch is Halloween. I do love that movie! It's not gross or anything, but it sure is suspenseful. :)
Suspenseful is not my friend :) Wasps would scare me too if we had them - anything that is bug-gy and also stings is doubly scary!
DeleteWe have a lot in common here. Bugs flying towards me (including grasshoppers), movement from the corner of my eye, and my reflection in the mirror when I'm in a large bathroom always catch me by surprise (not in small bathrooms, though, for some reason?).
ReplyDeleteOoh, that is interesting. I wonder what the brain does differently in a large space? I feel like that is something I could easily do myself, but thus far it hasn't happened (no doubt now it will!)!
DeleteOh, and I meant to say - our across-the-street neighbour has a statue in the front yard which is a stump with a possum on it. I always jump a little when I see it and think it is something alive!
DeleteI'm not good with horror movies and I startle easily - I have even tried being calm while friends watched a movie where I had seen the scary bit and I still jumped highest. However it is odd then that the scene that makes me laugh most in kids show peppa pig is when she scares her brother to stop his hiccups - at least scariness can be useful sometimes :-)
ReplyDeleteI really need to see this peppa pig! I am just like that in horror movies though - even if I know what is coming, I still get a huge shock. And jump with it!
DeleteKari, you and I can never hang out. We'd just be hippity hopping jumping all the time, (although, like you I wouldn't describe myself as a scaredy pants.)
ReplyDeleteI went for a run last week, (in the dark) saw a rugged up figure coming towards me and decided now would be a good time to make up scary story in my head. I ran VERY fast. Why, did I needlessly scare the crap out of myself? oh who knows, but it was a little bit fun too :-)
Oh, why indeed?! It is always at those dark, isolated times that my mind kicks into "what if...". I bet it was a very speedy run!!
DeleteI'm really not keen on mice. Spiders are cool, but mice and rats ...ugh!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I've never even come close to a mouse. I'm not at all sure how I'd find them!
DeleteOh my goodness.. I am so similar to you. I actually have a small seizure if somebody sneaks up on me.... I shriek like a banshee. Can't handle sneaking.
ReplyDeleteAlso RE your seeing-water- bottle-as- person.... I often see "dogs" everywhere... then I look again and it's a cardboard box, or a jumper or some other non-doggy object. Weird.
How funny - do you have a dog? I suppose seeing a dog is no different to seeing a human (if the actual object is neither!) and perhaps even a little nicer, presuming you like dogs.
DeleteHA!!!! The kitchen cord...the water bottle!!! I love this list!!! I get 'spooked' by branches laying on the ground when I'm running. I see things often as snakes. I'm a weird-o. Glad to see I'm not the only one!! :)
ReplyDeleteMe too! There are a lot of us out there it would seem :)
DeleteThis post made me think a little as I don't necessarily label myself as a jumpy person. Seaweed touching me in the ocean used to freak me out a lot as a child and young adult but I think I have grown out of that fear now. Seeing something out of the corner of the eye makes me jump on occasion but other than that I'm pretty brave.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is hope for me yet? That is impressive - I am quite sure being jumpy isn't a helpful trait.
DeleteI generally feel the same way - that I'm anxious but not scared. But maybe the two really are inextricably linked? Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they must come down to trait arousal levels, so perhaps so? I guess I'm the evidence that would suggest it :P
DeleteI'm totally the same way with balloons!!! Oh man I'm such a wimp when it comes to being near popping balloons and I cannot pop one for the life of me...I usually make kids do it, lol. (oops) And I hate loud noises b/c I too get startled easily. Greg always says I'm jumpy just like our cat Sheba. And Orion's (our other cat)tail startles me too! Because it's so looong and thick and gray that sometimes I think it's a huge rat or something. :P
ReplyDeleteI can completely imagine a cat's tail turning into something else from the corner of my eye. A huge rat would startle me too!
DeleteMy computer is also groaning. Your fiance must move around very quietly. I also like an even ground to walk on - have had too many twisted ankles xx
ReplyDeleteMy fiance (still in love with that word - thank you :-) ) does indeed move around quietly. I don't know how he manages it, or why I am so noisy.
DeleteTwisted ankles sound like a very unappealing outcome from irregular ground. I hope you're done with those experiences!
Seaweed hitting me is terrifying! Anything that touches me underwater is most certainly (in my mind) a shark or evil, man-eating sea creature of some kind. Ahhh. This is me, in a nutshell: http://hmjg.tumblr.com/post/11204571336/a-fucking-fish-just-touched-me haha
ReplyDeleteBahaha...so funny :)
DeleteBahaha...so funny :)
DeleteI won't go to a suspenseful movie at a busy time because at the exciting/scary moment I always shout. I do the startle thing when I think John is somewhere and I look up and he's only an inch away.
ReplyDeleteFun post.
Thanks Maureen :) And on shouting - my mother once shouted, very loudly, whilst watching an exciting/scary movie on a plane. It was simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing for all of us children near her. I think that may be where I got my tendencies from :P
DeleteEwww, bugs flying around my head. Also strange shadows at night.
ReplyDelete