Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Same Old Lang Syne

1) This week's song is the tale of an accidental holiday encounter between former lovers. (Hear it here.) They sit in her car and spend hours catching up, then she gives him a chaste kiss and they never see one another again. Is there a past love who still has a special spot in your heart, despite the years or the miles since your relationship?

Well, of course. Not that I would want to spend hours catching up with some of them, but they are all in my heart, along with other people I love(d).

2) This week's song includes a play on the traditional Scottish song, "Auld Lang Syne." Have you ever visited Scotland?

Yes. Beautiful place. I would love to go back.

3) Mother Winters has long told Sam that if she has a glass of water for every glass of champagne she drinks on New Year's Eve, she'll feel better on New Year's Day. Do you have a favorite hangover prevention tip or cure?

My favorite hangover prevention tip is to have one glass of whatever, at most, and be finished. Better if you just drink water without the champagne.

4) Do you like champagne?

Actually, I can't drink cheap-ass champagne at all anymore having gotten the sick-drunkest I ever was on the stuff. The mere smell of it....gahhh. I like the good (expensive) stuff, but I'm pretty careful with it.

6) This year at midnight, Crazy Sam will kiss the nose of her puppy, Chico. Will you be kissing anyone when the clock strikes 12?

I'll probably be in bed, asleep. Otherwise, I'll be laughing at the local anchors--two years ago one of them was incredibly high/drunk/inappropriate--and kissing Beast and Sparky, assuming they're awake. And if I do last till midnight, I'll be up till 1 since there will be fireworks shot off in the vicinity. Yeah, imagine that: fireworks, in our neighborhood. ...sigh

6) The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy was the runaway publishing phenomenon of 2012. It was so successful that the publisher, Random House, was able to give its employees massive bonuses this year. Have you read it?

I read about a page of the first one, total, skipping around a bit. Let's just say that my reaction was about the same as tasting cheap champagne. I'd rather read a cereal box.

7) Year-end is a time for newspapers, magazines and websites to run lists. According to Askmen.com, Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games is the at the of the year's "Most Desirable Woman" list. People magazine has declared Channing Tatum "The Sexiest Man Alive -- 2012." Do either of these two set your pulse racing? If not, who is your celebrity crush?

Um, let's see: I don't think Jennifer Lawrence is that pretty--she's got a little of that early Renee Zellweger squinty thing going on. BUT she is an excellent actress, and stunning in The Hunger Games, which is more important to me anyway. Channing Tatum is young enough (and ridiculous enough) to be my son. Yuck. It's really the ridiculousness that makes him unpalatable, I suppose, since there are a few other young guys (Jake Gyllenhaal, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, etc.) that don't make me want to scratch them behind the ears and tell them to behave. Otherwise, I'll stay with the standards: Brad Pitt, Mark Harmon, and Denzel Washington.

8) Pasadena, California, is known for hosting the traditional Rose Parade. It begins at 8:00 AM on January 1, so the people who watch it live must be there very early. Does the thought of getting up and dressed to sit in the California sun, bright and early on New Year's morning appeal, to you?

Yes. I'd go in a heartbeat. I was there IN the parade in 1980. Someday I'd like to see it from the stands....

9) Sometimes aches and pains that aren't serious can still really hurt. For example, Sam just dropped a can of tomato paste on her foot and the little red mark it left is making her crazy! Are you suffering through a bump or bruise or cut right now?

I somehow cut the base of my palm opposite my thumb earlier this week--just a paper cut. That was annoying for a couple of days, but otherwise I think I'm fairly unblemished. I had a KILLER headache yesterday all day: from 10 until 3 I downed 2 aspirin, then 2 Tylenol, then 2 Advil about two hours apart...and STILL it raged on. I think it has abated today, though I can still feel it pacing around behind my forehead, waiting to be released.
Oddly enough, two other people went home sick yesterday--one with "general malaise" the other with a migraine + GERD. Maybe it's sick building syndrome.