Sunday Stealing

(Link in meme-roll)
Me A to Z

A If you were an ANIMAL, what would you be?

I'd love to be some sort of canine. The universe being what it is, I'd probably end up as a potato bug, or a louse.

B BOOKS: What's on your reading list?

I've got Styx & Stone (Ziskin) sitting here ready to start once I finish Barbara Ehrenreich's latest. At work, Xom-B (Robinson) and the audiobook for Everything for a Dog (Martin) are waiting to check out. I have 11 other items on reserve there. And according to GoodReads, there are 20 books on my "Next" list, most of which have been there for months. Sigh...

C COMPULSIVE about anything?

Yeah a few things. I always lock my car door when I get out of it--even though I can do it from my key fob. Unfortunately, it's such a habit I regularly lock my keys in the car in the garage. I also try to put away my main work "tools"--mechanical pencil, eraser, small post-its, and book weight--before I go home every day. I do Unconscious Mutterings first thing after turning on the computer on Sunday mornings, followed immediately by PostSecret. Lots of other things that I do that, when I miss doing them, screw up my days completely.

D DREAMS - Do you ... dream in color? remember your dreams? keep a dream journal?

I dream in color, I remember some dreams, and my blog is my very occasional dream journal, among other purposes.

E EATING - what's your usual snack?

I vary widely, from granola to fruit to almonds to bread products to cookies.

F A few of your FAVORITE things:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.... OK, I like kittens and roses just fine, but favorite things? Hmm.... Diet Dr. Pepper. Bagels. Dogs. Quiet. Laughter with good friends. Dumb jokes. (Q: Where does George Washington keep his armies? A: In his sleevies) Not having to wear shoes. Napping in sunshine.

G GIGGLES! What (or who) makes you laugh? Do you have a good sense of humor?

Oops, looks like I jumped ahead. I laugh very hard at absurdity, which is convenient because there is a shit-ton of it around.

H major HOT Button:

Meanness for the sake of being mean.

I I am ______________ ...

...very sweaty right now, from rinsing out and putting a cooler in the car and helping Beast load a wagon in the car as well. Seriously? It's not even hot out, just freakin' humid as hell.

WHERE THE HELL IS J? J is an AWESOME letter! Booo!

K Also KNOWN As... Aliases? Screen names? A non [sic] de plume perhaps?

Well, Cat. certainly qualifies.

L I LOVE ...

...babies. Until they start making noise and stinking.

M How do you feel about MEETING people? Do it all the time? Rarely? Parties or 1-on-1?

I work at a reference desk in a library: I meet people every day. Most are just fine, nice, normal people. A few are scary as hell. The rest are just annoying.

N What's the story of your NAME? were you named after anyone? Do you go by a nickname? Any aliases?

My sisters named me because they felt my parents did such a lousy job with their names. They chose a name they like that belonged to a friend of one of theirs. No clue, really. The only rule for names in my house was they they couldn't be (easily) shortened into nicknames. So no Thomases (Tom, Tommy), no Susans (Sue, Suzy), etc. I wish they would have gone with my Dad's died-to-young sister and named me Rowena. Oh well.

O OBSERVANT - What's around you right now? What do you see?

Birthday gift, wrapped. Beast. Breakfast plate. Clipboard with crossword, pencil, and eraser. Book. Blankets. Three cans--one in use, two empty--of DDP. Three laptops (Beast is trying to fix Sparky's). TV with racecars on it.

P Who are the special PEOPLE in your life?

Beast, Sparky, my friends and family. Even when some family members annoy the shit out of me....

Q Any little QUIRKs about yourself:

No, no quirks; I'm perfectly rational. The rest of you are nucking futs.

R What do you like to do for RECREATION?

This. Read. Do crosswords. Sleep. Avoid my responsibilities (I'm very good at it). Alphabetize things.

S Do You SING in the shower? In the car? For your friends?

I sing along with the radio in the car sometimes (on the rare occasions when I'm listening to music). I never sing, or even talk, in the shower, and I try not to subject my friends to my singing except when I can't contain myself.

T What's at the top of your TO DO list?:

On my 'official' list is "Call Grant" (neighbor kid, about weeding) and "Go over credit cards with [Beast]." But otherwise, I need to clean the guinea pig cage when we get back from this thing today and also remake our bed with newly clean sheets.

U Any UNUSUAL experiences:

Loads. Daily ones. Working with the public is always unusual. I had a kid ask me last week why "fun size" candy is called that. He was mostly kidding, but his point was that "fun size" should be the HUGE bars, not the one-bite ones!

V VEGAS, Vienna, Venice, Vladivostok... How far have you traveled? What's your favorite city?

I was in Beijing about 29.5 years ago. My favorite city is Denver. And London.

W WINTER, Spring, Summer, Fall... What's your favorite season? What makes it special?

I love fall: less humidity, pretty colors, slightly cooler temps (not an issue this summer though), and crisp air. I don't like allergies that time of year, but the rest is lovely.

X EXes - Things you don't do anymore (but did, once (would you, again?))

I don't argue with drunks and/or fools anymore. I don't run (well, I can't, really). I don't feel guilty about nearly as much stuff as I used to. If I were 10 again, I might take up running, but otherwise I'm not interested in doing any of those things.

Y Any secret/deep YEARNINGS?

I really, REALLY wish I could learn to read ancient Greek. I'd love to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. And I'd love a personal guided tour of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Mostly, I wish I could talk to my dad and sisters again.

Z ZERO to ZENITH - Where are you in your life? Still growing? On an upward (or downward) curve? Just skating along?

I've pretty much adjusted to being on the slow downward slide at this point, but I'm focusing on "slow" and enjoying what I can. Work isn't lighting me up the way it used to, either. Not a particularly "happy" period of life right now, all the way around.