Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Into You (2016)
... Because [I] suggested it. [yay me!] Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this video, Ariana Grande and her boyfriend take off on a motorcycle. Are your trips usually carefully planned? Or would you prefer to just spontaneously get up and go?

Our trips tend more towards overplanning than spontaneity. We are, however, getting much better at not loading up the schedule and just letting things happen. Our trip next month to my nephew's wedding, while necessarily involving some advance work on lodging and coordination with other family, has pretty much otherwise been, "Anything you MUST do/see while we're there?" "Nope." OK, so the plan is to go wherever, do whatever, and play with all the kids. I'm totes on board with that. I don't even have much of a "things to do in [city]" list which is unheard of for me!

2) As they ride through the desert, they pass several cacti. This makes Sam sad, since she had a potted cactus on her desk and managed to kill it in no time. Do you have luck with house plants?

I'm prone to killing anything but the hardiest of houseplants. I have managed to keep most of Amy's Bob Marley cactus offspring alive, somehow, and some mother-in-law's tongue. Otherwise death surrounds me.

3) This song mentions the appeal of acting "a little bit scandalous." Tell us about a time you were the subject of gossip.

I'm sure everyone at work was talking about me last year because my attitude was absolutely horrific. I know this as fact because the boss told me so, which of course made me so very interested in improving my attitude around my coworkers.... I have notes all over my cube in foreign languages saying things like "Shut Up!" and "No chit-chat" to remind myself to STFU about non-work things. And all but one person at work is blocked from the vast majority of my Facebook life now. The boss is Restricted; he sees virtually nothing. Otherwise, and up to this point in my life, I haven't given a rat's bloody ass whether people gossip about me. I work with almost all women, and I'm a realist: at some point it had to be my turn in the blender.

4) Ariana's mother is an executive at a company that makes, among other things, alarm systems. Is your home protected by a security system?

We have an Attack Guinea Pig! Be afraid!

5) Ariana has her own fragrance, "Ari," available at major department stores. When you're at the mall, do you accept the scent strips you're handed? Or do you say, "no, thank you."

I so rarely go to a mall that I don't even know if I know what these are! They used to employ people to just spray shit in your face as you walked into departments stores. That sucked. And no, I have enough allergy issues that I don't need to overwhelm my system more thanks.

6) Ariana has said Mariah Carey is her "favorite human being on the planet" and her biggest musical influence. Who is your favorite female vocalist?

Well, it's emphatically NOT Mariah Carey!! I adore Dolly Parton and Julie Andrews. I like Melissa Etheridge. I think Mary J. Blige is amazing; without her there'd be no Beyoncé, whom I also like. And Miriam Makeba. If I go back to the no-longer-living, we can throw in Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee ... so many good women!

7) A big fan of horror movies, she admits Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies was her favorite growing up. Do you like scary movies?

Nope. Just no.

8) She had a brief relationship with rapper Big Sean. Do you like rap music?

I like some of it. I like the energy and the wit and talent behind good lyrical content. I don't really get the 'music' part of it, but I appreciate when there is good music AND good lyrics. But so much of it is pure dreck. Like most pop music, to be honest.

9) Random question: Which kid were you in school -- Class Clown, Brain, Jock, Stoner, Cheerleader, Teacher's Pet?

I was the Brain, with absolutely zero extensions into any of these other options. If you'd included Band Geek, I was that too, in spades.