The Survey Place

(link at left)

Fives

5 facts about me on love:

I believe in it.
I don't think I've experienced love at first sight; lust, yes, but not love.
I love each person differently, and it's very complicated.
Until I became a mother, I never knew what kinds of sacrifices I'd make for someone else.
Love makes us do incredibly stupid, inexplicable things.

5 facts about me on sex:

It's fun.
It's weird, and objectively sort of icky. But see my first point.
It isn't all that, though. There is more to life than sex. Clearly, I'm not a man. (OK, so here come the rotten tomatoes!)
Foreplay can be better than sex. Again, clearly, I'm not a man.
I still can't get over the yucky mental picture of my parents having sex.

5 facts about me on school:

I was a huge geek in school. Shocking, eh?
I miss school, but not most of the students.
I was a good student by almost every definition of that phrase.
I was co-valedictorian of my class, along with 5 other people (we were all within .01 of each other's GPA).
I graduated from college Magna Cum Laude.

5 subjects I enjoyed taking in the course of my life:

"History of the New Testament" and "Jesus of Nazareth." They made me a better Christian by making me deconstruct my faith and rebuild it from the ground up.
History.
Spanish. Though not in college; that was all memorization and reciting back facts about Spanish authors I have never encountered since (except Cervantes, who died the same year as Shakespeare--gee, I do remember something!).
Shop. I loved shop. Band saws! Chisels! Drill presses!
English, both composition and literature.
Cataloging and classification. The most fun I had in grad school (in a classroom, anyway).

5 facts about me on my driving:

I have had a total of three accidents in my life; none of them made my driving record officially. All three were fender-benders.
I have received one ticket. I was about as close as can be to getting another one--and really, I should have gotten it: I failed to stop at a four-way stop next to a daycare about 2 blocks from the county jail--but the cop knew my mom. I just got reamed out instead.
I don't pay close enough attention to other cars when I know the roads. I do pay close attention when there is lots of traffic.
The words "idiot" and "moron" and "JesusGod!!" are uttered quite often in my car.
I still haven't ever driven myself downtown to the Big City to the East of me. Too chicken.

5 facts about me on my view on politics:

I'm a registered Democrat, but only because you have to pick a party to get any kind of choices on your ballot around here.
My parents were/are staunch Republicans (although even my Mom thinks W is 100% Stupid). Dad went off like a rocket on Roosevelt; it was a guaranteed 15-minute rant every time the subject was raised.
All of my siblings are (and were) way more liberal than our parents. Mostly because Dad should have been a Democrat, if he would have let go of the FDR thing, and stopped buying the lies about Republicans being pro-small business.
Choice: good. Homosexuality: genetically-based. Evolution: most likely explanation for the world. Earth: not the center of the universe, and not flat. Extremism of any sort: bad. People: mostly stupid with moments of brilliance.
Politics isn't a line, it's a circle; as you follow it around you end up meeting your political enemies.

5 songs I currently like:

"Stuck in a Moment" U2
"Freedom" Nicole C. Mullens
"The Christmas Song" sung by Nat King Cole
"We Are One" Angelique Kidjo
"No More Drama" by Mary J. Blige

5 bands I detest:

[I'm omitting people I don't consider actual musicians, like Paris Hilton, most anyone named Jessica, and 90% of the current crop of rappers]
Rush
Insane Clown Posse
Marilyn Manson
Conway Twitty (mostly because of his name, I'll admit it)
Ike Turner

5 foods I love:

Cake with lots of frosting
Fruit pies, or Meat pies
Bread
Pasta with sauce
Cheese

5 facts about my family:

If we got everyone together--mom through her all her grandchildren, including sons- and daughter-in law--there'd be 22 people plus one almost-born. Half would be fighting with each other and/or crying, another third would be hiding and/or drinking heavily, and the rest would be having fun.
I have 4 nieces and 4 nephews between the ages of 22 and 38.
We live in 11 different cities.
Alcoholism runs in my family.
Almost all the boys have biblical names. Most of the girls don't.

5 facts about me on dealing with kids:

I tend to get carried away and giggle a lot with kids.
Babies are cool, until they stink and/or cry.
I especially love to hang out with 3rd-4th graders (8-10 year olds).
Reading aloud to kids is fun.
I yell a lot when I get frustrated with kids.

5 things about me on my job:

I love my job! I am pretty independent of how I structure my days, and my boss trusts me (and vice versa).
I'm good at detail work, if I know why it's necessary. I hate detail work when it's stupid shit.
I don't play politics very well, though Beast says I'm better than I think I am at it.
If I'm still doing a lot of reference hours in 10 years, I will be a very cranky person.
I tend to try to solve everyone's problems; I need to learn how to keep my nose out of it.

5 facts about me on money:

That screaming sound? It's the sound of me squeezing my dimes. In other words, I'm cheap...er, frugal.
Not as frugal and insane as my niece: I don't drive to 4 different grocery stores to get a week's worth of groceries for $5 less than I would spend at one.
I have somehow managed to lose the ability to balance a checkbook in the past 5 years or so.
I don't get investments. They are beyond me; I just don't understand this sort of thing. Taxes, insurance....it's like I have a giant wall that slams down between my eyes/ears and my brain whenever the subjects are addressed.
I have spent WAAAY too much (again) for Christmas presents.

5 things I act like when I’m high:

[the only high I've ever achieved was due to an IV in the hospital, so I'll be answering this about my drunken behavior]
I laugh a lot (more).
I go to the bathroom a lot.
My face turns REALLY, rather frighteningly, red.
At this point, I usually get an upset stomach and/or a headache after about 2 drinks.
If I overindulge, I get maudlin.

5 celebrities I wish would disappear off the face of earth:

Only FIVE??
Tom Cruise
The Hiltons--all of 'em (they count as one because their total IQs are less than the average person's)
The Simpsons--not the TV show, but OJ, Jessica, Ashlee, and the father of the latter two.
Mel Gibson
The entire staff of the Fox network (see my comment re the Hilton family)

5 facts about me on sleeping:

I sleep to the left of Beast, and have for most of our married life
I mostly sleep on my left side, curled up
I've had to change my sleep position over the past year to alleviate my neck/shoulder problems.
In my 20s, I spent a third or more of my nights not sleeping, or sleeping on the couch, or in the spare room.
I'm used to be kind of obsessive about how much sleep I got. Now I know I can function with damn little sleep.
I love jammies.

5 facts about me on video games:

I used to be a Tetris junkie
I have spent hours this year playing Sudoku online, but I seem to have broken that habit.
The Sims is eating my life.
I have a lot of trouble getting the GameCube controls sorted out.
I used to dream about Pac-Man. OK, they were sort of nightmares, from playing too much.

5 movies I enjoy:

Heathers
All of the Matrix movies
Caddyshack
RHPS
Groundhog Day

5 stores I buy clothes at:

Kohl's
VS
Target
Coldwater Creek
Old Navy

5 things about my plans for the future:

I don't make firm plans like this.
I'd like to go back to Italy and Greece, maybe on a cruise? I could do Turkey then too.
Sparky...college...paying for it...yeah....sigh
I don't plan to retire until I can't function at all.
It would be nice to have a little cottage in the woods somewhere.

5 worries I have:Oh, that's funny...just five? These are the first ones that pop into my head:

Sparky dying
Sparky ruining his life
Beast becoming disabled
Anyone in my family getting a terminal illness (beyond those who already have them)
Christmas and all that goes with it this year

5 things I’m angry about:

My mom's condition.
The library system merger.
Bush & Co.
Stupidhead, lazy-thinking so-called "Christians."
Stupidhead, overpaid professional athletes. Not all of them, just the asshats.

5 things I’m excited about:

Christmas (of course)
The shower this weekend
Seeing my in-laws next week
My great-nephew's arrival
Our new church building

5 things I’m dreading:

The library merger and the fall-out from it
Packing and moving our church
Sparky learning to drive
My boss's retirement
A lot of issues around my mom

5 wishes:

More understanding, patience, and tolerance between people everywhere
More time
Easily-learned hard lessons in life for Sparky
A calmer, happier family (the big Family, not the three of us)
Less pain for Beast

5 things I always do after I wake up:

Put on my glasses
Go to the bathroom
Shower, or wash my face if I took a bath the night before, and brush my teeth
Eat breakfast
Check Bloglines and my email

5 things I do before I go to sleep:

Brush my teeth and wash my face
Read or do a crossword or Sudoku
Check the time on my alarm
Put in my earplugs
Turn out the light

5 things I did today:

Wrapped all Christmas presents
Typed up Session meeting minutes
Talked to Sparky about what he remembers about school
Ordered deli trays for Saturday
Took a bath

5 things I will do tomorrow:

Go to work
Buy airmail stamps and mail those cards
Call the Clerk of the Presbytery
Call our IP re billing
See Beast (he's out of town again tonight)

5 places I have visited:

Maine
Greece
England
Italy
Russia

5 things about my personality:

I'm compulsive
I take things too seriously at times, and not seriously enough at times
I'm pretty easygoing, within certain bounds
I don't tolerate being treated badly
I've been told I'm pretty in tune with the emotional temperature around me most of the time

5 things I want to change about my body:

Y'know, I really have given this up. Beyond losing weight, I'm fine with what I've got.

5 famous people who I think are brilliant:

Mandela
Gandhi
MLK, Jr.
Einstein
...sorry, that's it. I don't use the word brilliant easily.

5 bands I have seen live:

Styx
Boston
U2
Beach Boys
Paul Young

5 people I cannot live without:

Beast
Sparky
Amy
Jenny
The Bendie

5 animals I think are cool:

Wolves
Meerkats
Penguins
Chimpanzees
Giraffes

5 things I am proud of:

Sparky (ok, not a thing, but oh well)
Beast (sorry)
My work--on the good days
My grad degree
My undergrad degree

5 things I am scared of:

Failure
Loneliness/Aloneness
Depression
Pain
My own stupidity

5 facts about me on people and socializing:

I'm still shy, but I'm a better actress than I ever thought I could be.
I talk too much.
I like parties, if I know most of the people.
My parents never had parties, so I've had to learn all this as an adult.
I like staying home, too, and doing quiet things.

5 of my hobbies:

Blogging
Reading
Puzzles (crosswords, sudoku and the occasional jigsaw)
Scrapbooking
Meming

5 things to do in your city/town:

Skate park
0per@ H0use
There is a small movie theatre
Lots of restaurants
Sledding

5 beliefs I have about ghosts:

I don't really believe in them, having never seen proof. On the other hand, given the opportunity to have their existence proven, that wouldn't affect me particularly.