Cheddar X

Title: Best and Worst Cheddar X Ever

1. What was the best thing that happened to you this week?
Winning at poker. Beating two boys. Twice.
The worst?
My back hurting again.

2. What's the best thing someone's done for you (recently or not so recently)?
In a very general, non-specific way...been honest with me.
What's the worst thing someone's done to you (again, recently or not so recently)?
I hate getting yelled at; it happens.

3. What's the best thing about your job?
I get to be my own boss, and decide what to do when. At least most of the time.
Worst?
Having to supervise Label Woman.

4. What's the best new website you've found?
Going Underground
Worst?
There are so many...the most disappointing is this one.

5. What's the best book you've read?
Heh. Jack Gantos' Hole in My Life is gripping me this week.
Worst?
There are so many...luckily I have the knack of deleting them from my hard-drive ASAP. One I had to read in college: Moby Dick. ick

6. What's the best movie you've seen?
I love Heathers.
Worst?
Again, I've deleted the title. It was a kids' thing that my son wanted to see with a friend. I sat behind them. And slept.

7. What's the best meal you've had?
Great steak at at Mo's in Milwaukee. Great Greek food at Sto Steki on Ydra. The first burger after 5 weeks in Asia and Europe.
Worst?
Russian food. Well, to be fair, it was Soviet food.

8. What's the best holiday?
Fourth of July: it's hot, it's fun, it's low-pressure, and you get fireworks. It's also right around my anniversary. Thanksgiving gives it a good run for the money, though.
Worst?
Christmas is always such a let-down by the time the 25th actually arrives...

9. What's the best thing in your future?
Seeing my son grown-up.
Worst?
Being the youngest in my family: I'm pretty sure that most (if not all) my siblings will die before me. Which sucks.

10. What's the best quote you know?
Funny: "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of congress; but I repeat myself. (Mark Twain)" Serious: "Now faith is [the] substantiating of things hoped for, [the] conviction of things not seen. (Letter to the Hebrews)"
Worst?
"You get what you deserve." So untrue.

All about Me. Again

From Jenica.

A - Act your age? Heh—as infrequently as possible. Although, for me, this is what 40 acts like. To paraphrase Gloria S.

B - Born on what day of the week? Tuesday. Which means I’m full of grace. And that may not be far from the truth, as long as we aren’t discussing coordination…

C - Chore you hate? All of them? No? OK, mopping/vacuuming.

D - Dad's name? ...well, his middle name was Albert

E - Essential makeup item? A balaclava? I don’t wear makeup; it doesn’t agree with my skin.

F - Favorite actor? Favorite to look at: Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise. Favorite to watch: Tom Hanks/Harvey Keitel (those are who I can think of immediately—there are dozens more)

G - Gold or silver? Silver. Hands down.

H - Hometown? Suburban Denver

I - Instruments you play? Piano (sort of), flute/piccolo

J - Job title? Cataloger/General Reference

K - Kids? Yeah, one. That’s just plenty for me, thanks very much.

L - Living arrangements? Messy? I guess "married"; is that what this means? This weekend is my 18th anniversary! Yikes

M - Mom's name? ...her first name is the same of that one b&w-to-color movie made in 1939.

N - Need... a new back; more time.

O - Overnight hospital stays? Childbirth (3 nights); emergency abdominal surgery in ’97 (4 nights). I think I spent the night at least once either with my dad or with The Beast…? Can’t remember honestly.

P - Phobia? I don’t really have too many unreasonable fears. Don’t like spiders. Don’t like scary movies. Don’t like guns. Heights don’t bother me. I tend to avoid snakes, but only because I grew up in rattlesnake country. Anyway, as my cool-chick pseudo-niece told me Sunday, I’m always bigger than my fear because my fear is inside me. Pretty philosophical for a 7-year-old.

Q - Quote you like? Too many to include them all here. I even have about 4 files of quotations to use on rotation on my email sig. One I base my life on: "Now faith is [the] substantiating of things hoped for, [the] conviction of things not seen." Which leads into...

R - Religious affiliation? Presbyterian, born & bred. Third generation at least.

S - Siblings? Originally: 4 sisters and a brother, all at least 10 years older than me. My oldest niece is only 5 years younger than me, so I count her and her sister (8 years younger) as sisters in my head.

T - Time you wake up? I get up around 5:30 or 6 at the latest. I wake up of my own volition at about 7 or so if there’s no alarm clock.

U - Unique talent? I’m pretty musical, but that’s not all that unique. Uhm, I know all the lyrics to the songs from "My Fair Lady," "Fiddler on the Roof," "South Pacific” and "The Sound of Music." To name just a few…

V - Vegetable you refuse to eat? Olives. If those don’t count, I don’t love tomatoes or cukes.
W - Worst habit? Talking before thinking.

X - X-rays you've had? Teeth. They may have x-rayed me when I had surgery, but I was pretty out of it before they gave me pain meds/anesthesia and opened me up.

Y - Yummy food you make? I bake great bread. Actually I bake great. Period.

Z - Zodiac Sign? Scorpio. Which explains a lot, if you believe in it! :-)

Food and Memes again

Title:Feast Five

Appetizer
Briefly describe your living room.

As you enter from the front door, you walk through a very funky vaguely Moorish archway in the center of the wall. To the left is a curvy Kmart CD stand next to our entertainment center: TV, VCR, stereo, and gigantic 80s speakers on top along with the Direct TV box and a couple of candles and videocassettes. And dust. To the right is my Christmas present from 1988: a pale curved-wood rocking chair. That is the south wall.

The west wall is another archway like the first one that takes you into the dining room; there really isn’t much wall, just enough to eventually hang a couple of pictures if we ever get around to it.

The north wall is made up of a stone fireplace. There are built-in oak cupboards on either side and windows above them. The cupboards run from the stone to the west and east walls. On the top of the west one is a large lamp with simple oriental-esque design that we ‘inherited’ from one of my shut-ins when she died a few years ago. There is also a 20” red platter shaped and painted like the center of a rose. Two pottery candle holders with green candles. The Beast’s blood-pressure machine. The east one has all my Creative Memories albums on top, along with our wall clock--because we can’t agree on where to hang it—and a small 13” Ikea lamp. The mantle over the fireplace is a simple oak slab about 5’ long, 10” deep and 4” high. On it is a candle stand with 4 green 3” candles on it and some decorative floral garland. The hearthstone is about 10” off the ground, which makes it a nice seat for people willing to sit on concrete. There is a small stack of wood to the left of the fireplace, and scented pinecones and the fireplace tools to the right.

The east wall has three large windows across it. Our couch sits in front of it, flanked by a mail-order gate table on one side and a 2-tier pie-crust table. The round table holds a Tiffany/Wright style lamp (also from K-Mart, oddly enough). There is a mostly yellow Mexican serape thrown over the seat and back of the couch, from where I fell asleep yesterday afternoon. Also, there are two unmatched fluffy pillows. The couch is a double recliner, with a fold down table at the center back. The pie-crust table is between the couch and the rocking chair. The rocking chair has a folded quilt on it, waiting to either get packed as a wedding gift or stored away again.

The recliner sits near the archway into the dining room, kind of in front of the western built-in, next to a matching pie-crust table we found by chance in an antique store in Galena. The original is from The Beast’s parents.

Soup
List 3 things you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2004.

1. I would like to get all the paintings and artwork hung on the walls of the house! That would include getting glass for the broken one(s).
2. I would like the get our bedroom painted and rearranged more comfortably.
3. I would like to get my scrapbooks caught up.

Salad
When you're online, what do you spend the most time reading/playing/doing? Suggest a site for us to visit.

I mostly blog. See the links to the left. Otherwise, it’s mostly work-related: my links include OCLC bib formats, FirstSearch, LC Authorities, etc. At home, lots of blogging, some games.

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be?

I suspect that would depend on the day I chose it. “Get Offa My Cloud” comes to mind today.

Dessert
What time do you usually go to bed?

{see me bursting into laughter and quoting The Beast: “Sleep is over-rated.” }
OK, normally somewhere between 10 and 11 p.m. on weeknights, 11ish on weekends. This week: midnight.

Answer to yesterday's hump

Yup, you smart people: it's my Dell. [ok, couldn't find my whole setup, so that's the newest part of it]

The hat is hanging precariously off one corner, ready to be grabbed when I'm really annoyed (it says "leave me alone!"). The quiet noises are because I don't have a sound card (well, this IS a library!). As for the PC abuse, that's just my joke with our tech: "What'd you break now??"

It's that time o' the week

Link: Thursday Threesome
Title: ::Capricious: Governed or characterized by impulse or whim, lacking rational basis or likely to change suddenly::

Onesome: Characterized by impulse--Do you you consider yourself impulsive or do you tend to think everything through before you make a move?

Yes. hee
Depends on the subject. I'm pretty impulsive on a day-to-day basis, but for the "big decision" stuff (vacations, large purchases, etc.) I tend to be compulsive about research and so forth.

Twosome: lacking rational basis--If you are impulsive, do you rationalize and justify your actions? Like, since that item you bought on a whim was on sale, you really saved money by buying it?

I sometimes say stuff like that to The Beast. We have a friend who says it seriously; I say it ironically in tribute to her. Nothing I buy is totally irrational, except candy bars in the checkout lane. Other dangerous impulse buys: shoes, books, guinea pig paraphrenalia, bottled pop. I'm pretty much not allowed in bookstores or shoestores without a guard/guide.

Threesome: or likely to change suddenly-- When you make up your mind, does it stay made up or do you tend to change your mind at the last minute? ...or do you waffle back and forth until you're forced to decide?

Oh, no, I'm a BIG waffler. I change my mind some days more often than I breathe. All right, MOST days... ;-) Pity The Beast; he suffers for my self-doubt.

To cheer me up...?

Link: Hump Day
Title:This week's hump -- an even dozen of "I say ___, you think ___"

01. stroke Billy Squier
02. sketch -book
03. poke A pig in a ____
04. doh The boy, by way of Homer Simpson
05. tongue -twister
06. post fence-
07. twirl Big flowing skirt
08. fore ...hmmm, I'll go with golf...
09. cup Cooking
10. curly Short and curlies
11. swim Dolphins Swim Team
12. snooze -alarm,

For extra fun, hump this:

Think of an item ...

...don't tell us what the item is. Now, describe that item in brief paragrah (the size, the color, etc) but don't give it away. Okay, now you're ready to hump it up. Replace the name of the item with the word "hump". Other players will come to your blog and try to guess what your hump is. Tomorrow morning, add the answer to your hump and for big fun add a picture. If you don't have a camera do a Google image search.

My hump is mostly black with lots of splashes of color. It is covered with notes, debris and a hat. It mostly just sits there. It occasionally makes very quiet but pleasant humpy noises. I couldn't survive most days without my hump. In fact, without my hump, my job would be awfully difficult. I talk to my hump on a daily basis, but it doesn't seem to mind. My hump and I will be moving across the room in a couple of months, into a new cubicle. I am frequently accused of abusing my hump here at work, but those rumors are lies, all lies. I love my hump! I'd like to take it home, but I can't. I have to remind myself that I have humps at home. I think my hump and I are the island of sanity in this building.

New one

Link: What's on...Right now?
Title: Ok, everyone should be able to answer this one........Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

What's On your desktop Right Now?

A centered screenshot (c. 6" x 6") of the Rockies surrounded by khaki background.

Clickables:

Moving down the left side
My Computer
{space}
[my]Folder (on the Shared Drive)
My Documents
{3 spaces}
Recycle Bin
{3 spaces}
Media Player

Next column
{3 spaces}
Common Drive
{space}
Ongoing Projects (Word Doc.)
{5 spaces}
Ad-Aware

Next column
{3 spaces}
Glen Records (notebook doc.)

Next column
{9 spaces}
Power Point

Next column
Outlook
OCLC CatME
{6 spaces}
Access

{empty column}

Next column
Google
{9 spaces}
Word

Next column
Explorer
Form Subd. link
{6 spaces}
Excel
Books to Read (Excel doc.)

Next column
{9 spaces}
Publisher

{empty column}

Next column
Millennium

Next column
{10 spaces}
My Network Places

Next column
{empty space}
Anzio Lite
{3 empty spaces}
Calculator
Weather Channel link

TMI, eh? Is it obvious that I like things spread out with lots of space between icons?

Poetry corner

Link: Poetry quiz

I am the sonnet, never quickly thrilled; Not prone to overstated gushing praise Nor yet to seething rants and anger, filled With overstretched opinions to rephrase; But on the other hand, not fond of fools, And thus, not fond of people, on the whole; And holding to the sound and useful rules, Not those that seek unjustified control. I'm balanced, measured, sensible (at least, I think I am, and usually I'm right); And when more ostentatious types have ceased, I'm still around, and doing, still, alright. In short, I'm calm and rational and stable - Or, well, I am, as much as I am able. What Poetry Form Are You?

It goes on to say :
(If you were not a Sonnet you would be a Ballad.)

Heh.

I was 13 for most of 1977

Title: When you were 13...

Close your eyes and think back to when you were 13. I know, I know, but it's just a visit, not a permanent return! Are you there? OK, try to remember:

1. What did your nightstand look like? Was it an actual nightstand or some other 'leftover' piece of furniture (i.e. desk, TV tray, dresser), or the floor?

I think when I was 13, my nightstand was the corner-shelf Mom had repainted a sort of turquoise color for me. On the other side of the bed was the desk with matching paint, although the top was wood. It was always covered with crap--I almost never used it for actual schoolwork. Some things don't change!
2. Who had pride of place of your posters? What was hanging where you saw it last thing at night and first light of morning? Why? (C'mon, be honest, even if it's mortifying, as mine is. A bit)

Horrors: Andy Gibb, the BeeGees and (briefly) Shawn Cassidy. The Pride poster was the 4' x 6' shirtless Andy Gibb poster. Oy. I actually have a scrapbook with tearouts from Tiger Beat that used to adorn my walls: the above along with Tony Danza, Scott Baio, uhm...this is just too embarrassing...
3. Closet: disaster or spotless?

More disaster than spotless. But not as bad as my son's!
It was a big closet, since I had what was the original master bedroom to the house. When I was born, my parents added a room above the garage for themselves, and everyone rotated. As a young child, up till around age 5, my room was pretty tiny with a very interesting bendy-but-small closet. When Nancy graduated from college, Paul moved downstairs and I moved into 'his' room. The tiny bedroom became the TV/sewing room.
4. First-hour class? Or can you recite your whole schedule for 7th grade?? What time did school start and end?

My first homeroom was in the art classroom, which was deadly hard to find (what does that "B" in the room number mean??). I think my schedule was something like band, social studies, art/shop (later in the year), math, English (just before lunch), social studies, gym, science. We had quarters of science (geology, phys. sci., biology, and ... something). And somewhere in there was Home Ec 2nd semester.

I remember roaming the halls, all the students circling like caged animals before school started everyday. School started at 8:30 and ended at 2:30 or so. We usually got there around 8 for the Grand Promenade (she says, rolling her eyes). Laura & I walked down alleys to get to school, most of the way; years later, when I told my mom that, she flipped. NOW I finally understand why!
5. First serious crush, the one that made you stop eating, and made you want to cry all day: did you ever tell him/her? Did you ever go out on a date with him/her? Did anyone ever have a crush on you (that you know of)?

In 7th grade, it was J0el Str!z!ch. We sat next to each other in our alphabetically-assigned seats for English where we were learning prepositions: about above across after against...she had us memorize a list of about 50 common ones. Anyway, J0el used to poke me in the ribs with pencils and at one point had a whoopee cushion he tried to get people with. He never got me (I had an older brother who had trained me very well to be aware of tricks). J0el called me once over the summer, but niether of us could think of anything to talk about.

He was at the 20 year high school reunion. It was very surreal sitting at a table chatting and eating dinner with him and his wife!
I remember I kept a notebook at this point in my life that listed all the cute guys, at school and "stars" (TV and movie). I'd go through it periodically (about every 6 weeks) and re-rate them all. I wonder if I still have that notebook somewhere. It was very organized. Even at the time I realized this was either very pathetic or hysterically funny.

Life is all about me, after all...

Link: Monday Madness
Title: Do you prefer....

This week's set of questions are all about you! Have a marvelous week!! =) OK, so I'm assuming this is what I do myself, not what I think others should do. I should warn you that I'm cranky today. Having cleared ALL that up--to my satisfaction anyway:

1. Long hair or Short hair Longer is better. My mom made me get a pixie cut for most of my childhood. In 7th grade she decided to let me grow my hair out, but gave me no pointers on how to take care of it. I wore "Sacajawea ponytails" for 3 or 4 years, till high school when I cut it all off again so I could do a Lady Di cut. It was pretty short all the way through college. Then I let it grow out till it was about mid-shoulder length. When my sister died and my son was a toddler, I cut it all off again, really short; basically a boy haircut. I've had my current hairstyle for the past 5 years or so...Stepford Suburbia is my pet name for it...

2. Contacts or Glasses Glasses. Since age 10. I had contacts for about 7 months in college. They sucked. I was allergic to the cleaning solution, but didn't know it, and forcing my body to deal with it brought on all my other enviro. allergies. Besides, I'm intrinsically too lazy to deal with contacts every day.

3. Spring or Autumn Wow, that's tough. I like spring because it means winter is over, but I'm picky and want spring to segue to summer in about 2 days total. This spring has lasted over 2 months! I also like fall. Pretty colors, great smells, football games, really HOT days and cool nights. But fall means winter isn't far behind...

4. Mittens or Gloves Uh, yes. Mittens over gloves! I have things that are fingerless gloves with a mitten part that pulls up and over the fingers; they're designed for hunters and photographers and keep my hands warmer than anything else. My hands are cold all winter, so this is something I spend valuable time considering, believe me.

5. Car or Truck/SUV Uh-oh, you'll be sorry you asked this!

First of all, there is a difference between a truck and an SUV. I drive a small pickup; it's NOT AN SUV!*

Secondly, SUVs as they stand now are Evil Incarnate. They should be driven to Wyoming, and once they are all collected, bombed back into their intrinsic parts. With the following exceptions: people living where there are no paved roads can keep their jeep, people who know how to put the vehicle into 4WD can keep them, people who use their vehicles for roadside assistance for a living can keep them, anyone who knows how to put chains on tires can keep their jeep (because they are smarter than 90% of the world's population), and any emergency workers who need to be out and about in awful snow. EVERYONE ELSE, TURN IN THE SUVs and buy a frickin' car.

By the way, Hummer owners should be immediately enlisted in the armed forces when they purchase this vehicle. They and their vehicles will be shipped, free of charge, to a foreign locale of the U.S. Government's choice (Iraq, Afghanistan or Bosnia are some exciting destination possibilities) and will be allowed to drive their Hummers anywhere they want. The dealers will be incarcerated in Abu Ghraib.

Ahem....carrying on now....

6. Mac or Windows Windows, cuz I haven't used a Mac since grad school, and only two or three times then.

7. Cats or Dogs Dogs. I'm more allergic to cats than dogs, although I think I've become more of a cat-person than I ever used to be. Too bad.

8. Rock or Jazz All other things being equal, rock. But I like jazz vocals too. What about classical??? Or country (not that I'm all that into country). Or reggae (YES!).

9. Pen or Pencil At work, mostly pencil. Otherwise, pens with character. If you don't know what that means, never mind.

10. DVD's or VHS's Videos right now, but I'm hoping to get a DVD player something in the next 6 months. But honestly, we don't have time to watch movies. And when we do, we mostly just flip on HBO or whatever other channels we have available to see what's playing there...

* Someday, when I move back to the mountains, I will have a jeep. It will be a jeep, soft-top, similar to the old Cherokees or CJ7s. It will be used ONLY on certified jeep roads, not driven across unspoiled grasslands or meadows. It will be used by and for people who have their brains in their heads not in their butts.

Hump Day

Link: BlogDriveInsanity
Title: Today is National Mortician's Month. Wheeeee! No, wait ... Ewwww! So, because we're insane, instead of a mortician related warm up we're going to instead honor National Drive Safe Month. Yaaay! Using the letters L-I-C-E-N-S-E reveal some unusual things about your driving habits or your vehicle or what you do in your vehicle besides drive or ... well, you get the point.
L is for Loud Music, driving across the countryside yesterday with Mellencamp cranked
I is for Ice, on which my truck doesn't drive well
C is for Cool, because I love my truck
E is for Easy to Drive, because I love mannie-trannies
N is for Neat. Well, usually, although I do occassionally have Slob-Car tendencies
S is for Shiny. But right now the truck needs a bath, so it isn't very...
E is for Extended Cab

On to the hump >>>>>
01. You are a ride at a theme park. What are you and why?
Hmm, The Beast would say a flume ride, I'm sure. Certainly on an emotional level: the promise of having at least a wet shoulder from me crying on it. I think I'm more of a carousel, especially when I'm freaking out about stuff. You know, actually, comparing oneself to a ride is a little weird, because the rides don't GO ANYWHERE! ;-) So I'm more of a mini-golf course if anything.

02. You are an inanimate object and you have the same capabilities as a mood ring. What are you and how do you operate? Example: Mood Pen: The ink changes color depending on what the mood is.
Mood Voice: Annoy me at a bad time and I'll vocalize you another orifice!

03. You own the most unusual store in the world where you sell a product that's never been sold before - it could be anything from instant serenity to personality enhancers to holy drinking water that absolves your sins (that's no joke folks, it really exists). What is the name of your store, what do you sell and do you have a selling catch phrase?
I sell Panic in a Jar: open it to sniff and the entire room shrinks to the size of a 6' x 8' cell and your problems are magnified 100% every 2 minutes. It affects everyone in the immediate vicinity. It has a half life of 72 hours. Luckily, there is a limited supply, which is fine since I doubt my store will sell much.

04. Describe an item of clothing that has definitely seen better days but that you refuse to dispose of and still wear. Why won't you toss it?
My Censorship T-Shirt from the ALA. It turned into my painting shirt accidentally soon after I bought it. Now I love it for what it says, and also for reminders of all the different wall colors we've had in our houses.

05. Going on the belief that "It's the little things that count." what is some little thing that might seem insignificant to others that recently made you smile or gave you a really happy feeling?
Mostly little things make or break me... However, the majority of what I'm thinking of now are things like "Gary not being a putz yesterday." So, how about "The Boy smiled and was/is in a good mood this morning instead of growling around about everything."

Monday (unusual for me!)

Link:Monday Madness
Title:It's Monday again; so let's have some fun!

1. In your opinion, what is the perfect temperature? 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the breeze
2. If you have a garden, what do you plant in it? If not, what would you plant in it? Flowers. I love roses especially, but otherwise petunias, impatiens, begonias, etc.
3. What is your favorite summertime beverage? Same as all year: diet pop.
4. How many times a year do you rearrange your living room? A lot less than I used to! It's not rearrange-able anymore.
5. How fast do you drive in a '55 mile-an-hour' zone? 58
6. How many minutes per day do you usually talk on the phone? 60 minutes or so. Seems like more
7. What is your favorite software program? ?? Don't know really. Word? Or The Sims.
8. How many music cd's do you own? 50 or so. Not that many.
9. How many memes do you participate in on a regular basis? Regularly? 5 maybe...
10. Name 3 blogs that you have on your 'blogroll' list. (any 3.) Jenica's. Amy's. Annie's. But look to the left...
<--

More Sunday stuff

Link: Unconscious Mutterings

Title:I say ... and you think ... ?l>
1. Colorblind:: Ray Charles
   
2. Shallow:: Swimming pool
   
3. Erotica:: NOT BEETHOVEN!
   
4. Figment:: Fig Newtons
   
5. Eviction:: Notice
   
6. Composed:: Calm, cool and collected
   
7. Chill:: The Big ____
   
8. Girl:: You go!
   
9. California:: Beach Boys (probably because of the proximity of 'Girl')
   
10. Bond:: James. Of course, even though I've never seen a 007 movie.
    

Sunday Brunch

Link: Sunday Brunch
Title:Happy Birthday!

Sunday Brunch is one year old this week! Break out the party hats and pop the cork on that bottle of champagne. Let's celebrate!

1. How do you usually celebrate your birthday?
Prezzies and cake or (better) pie. Dinner out. No big deal. Just a sort of heightened awareness of age.
2. Do you ever lie about your age?
Nope. What's the point? I'm still the youngest sibling, so everyone else is older than me!
3. What is your favorite flavor(s) of cake and ice cream?
I like white cake with white buttercream or similar frosting. Wedding cake is the BEST! But actually, for my birthday I prefer pie: cherry, apple, peach... No ice cream. Not my thing at all.
4. Have you ever completely forgotten the birthday of a family member or friend?
Not really forgotten. I have probably 50 birthdays and anniversaries in my memory bank, and I always seem to be able to remember them on the day of. I just can't seem to get my act together to send cards 5 days before. I still remember my first boyfriend's birthday, my best friend from first grade, etc. I can tell you the dates I graduated from high school and college as well...
5. What was the most memorable birthday party you've attended?
On my 16th birthday, my mom drove three friends and me to a movie ("Time After Time") and then drove back to pick us up--unheard of behavior, really, for my parents. Afterwards we went back to my house for cake, eaten while sitting around the dining room table with no adults. My mother served and then went...uhm, somewhere, probably into the living room, which is really just the other end of the long dining room/living room area. Very grand and upper-crust-ish and so forth. We talked--among other things--about Sean Poole having his stomach pumped in 8th grade and the fact that he still was drinking just as hard as ever two years later. We were so wise and full of ourselves.

Not technically a meme

Link: Metro Cafe quiz
from Annie (my source for much brainfood)

8 out of 10. Not bad. I had a lovely chuckle at 'borborygmus,' since that was my word of the day just recently.

Memes + Food = Nirvana

Link:Friday's Feast
Title:Feast Three

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

My middle name is Ruth. After all this time, I rather like it, although up until age 20 or so I hated all my names. Doesn't every girl want to be called something else? When I was a young teen (preteen?) I remember the name I would have chosen was Tina. Why? Guess there were a lot of cool Tinas in my world. On the other hand, I always thought I was Laura Ingalls Wilder reincarnated, because my name is close enough, right?
If I were forced to change one of my given names, I'd move to Jo, a shortened version of my mother's middle name (and of course in tribute to Little Women). I often consider dropping the last bit of my name, which is my husband's last name, and going back to just my maiden name (I'm more-or-less hyphenated now).

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

Silk, linen, cotton. Natural fibers (except wool, which makes me break out in hives). Some natural colored, some dyed vibrant colors. Style: unstructured, unfussy. Somewhat tailored. Classy jeans and T-shirt kinds of things. No sequins, very few flowers, no tinybusy patterns of any kind. Throw in the occasional plaid... Oh. And no frills, bows or poofy stuff!

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?

Everything that's on my list today: shopping, laundry, errands in general... :-) No, actually, it's anything to do with floors: mopping, sweeping, vacuuming. I wonder why...I really have no specific reason for this aversion.

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

A thing: spiders, the hairy kind. I like the little Midwestern American kind of house spiders because of their tendency to eat the "squeeters" and other pests. Not a fan of tarantulas. I remember a dream as a child where big hairy spiders were crawling out of my eyes.
Which brings me to the Amorphous Fear category: Fear of Blindness, Fear of Abandonment, Fear of Pissing People Off, Fear of Failing...there are probably more. Blindness is obvious from that dream and the fact that I'd lose the reading (I know about books on tape/CD). Abandonment is one I've recently put together with some stuff my oldest sister just told me this spring about my infancy. Pissing People Off is a girl thing I'm trying to work through. Failure...hmph, got that lock, stock and barrel from my parents and siblings. 'We don't fail. It's just not done' is the subtext in every one of our lives.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.[Whew! Well, that's less intense than the others! :-) Just three? OK.]

1.The Beast's Beast from high school (it's a plush toy, don't worry).
2. I guess the monitor is too obvious....? A picture of The Beast, me and the boy taken at Delphi. Our Christmas card from 2001.
3. Route planners from RAC and AA for the drive from Manchester airport to Wakefield for the wedding next month. [Next month?!?! Aaargh...]

Trying to get the brain functional this morning

Link:Thursday Threesome
Title:"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do." -- Walt Disney

Onesome: When you're curious- Is there a specific subject you're especially curious about? A person? A region of the world? An animal? A field of study?

I guess it's about why people in general react to situations the way they do. Which would make my answer psychology. Motivation. That's probably why I read so many mysteries: motivation is always explained, or at least explored.

Twosome: you find lots of interesting- What do you consider your most interesting trait/ feature?

Being able to switch emotions at the drop of a hat. Scares the crap outta people! :-) I can go from perfectly sane and happy to an insane raving fishwife in about 45 seconds. Unfortunately, I can't always get back to sane and calm as easily.... Just picture Bruce Bixby a.k.a. The Incredible Hulk: "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Threesome: things to do- What's on your list of things to do everyday, whether you want to or not? Filing, phone calls, homework, chasing around after kiddos, cooking, cleaning, etc.

See my blog entry from yesterday. And add to it "going insane" because I almost never finish my daily list of things to do. And then I get depressed and feel useless, which makes me not want to do anything. Which is where I started this morning.

Well. Not sure that really helped get myself motivated to work. Let's go find out...

Hump Day

Link: BlogDriveInsanity
Title: "I say ___, you think ___."

In response to the following list of words enter the first words, phrase, idea or thought that comes into your ever humpin' mind. Ready? Put on your humping caps.

01. bright : light ("Elllioootttt")
02. twister : Tropicana
03. marshmallow : bunnies (which I hate)
04. bud : beer (also something I hate)
05. master : plan (which I don't have right now)
06. blink : 182 (why? I know one song by them!)
07. sauve : misspelled (If it's suave, I'll say "Rico" because I'm pathetic)
08. bikini : atoll
09. dash : ellipsis
10. elementary : school, my dear Watson

Evening

Link: Chick Chat
Title:Questions For June 1st

Favorite Reads

1. Fav. Author?: Sue Grafton, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte Bronte

2. Fav. Book?: Oy. World-shattering: The Book of Ruth. Comforts: any of the Laura books. Don't want to finish: anything by Kent Haruf.

3. Fav. Blog?: No fair, depends on the day!

4. Fav. Website?: Rotten Tomatoes or Ship of Fools

5. Fav. Magazine?: Real Simple and Entertainment Weekly

Lunchtime

Link: Tuesday Twosome
Title:The first two things you do...

1. When you wake up: Depends on the day. Workdays: hit snooze, try to encourage myself to get up. Non-workdays: start thinking about what needs to be done today, and enjoy the feeling of being able to sleep in.

2. When you get out of the shower: Towel off and wrap my hair in a towel.

3. When you get to work/school: Turn on the computer and sort through the pile of crap people have usually left me.

4. When you get into the car: Key the ignition and put on the seatbelt (although sometimes I put it it gear before doing the seatbelt).

5. When you get home: Take off my shoes (and coat if necessary) and start thinking about what needs to be done first there.