Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Rocky Mountain High (1975)
... because Bev recommended John Denver [I llllluuuuuurrrrrrve John Denver!]
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Denver sings that he was "born in the summer of his 27th year," because that's when he discovered the place where he felt most at home. What do you remember about your 27th year? (If it hasn't happened yet, what do you want to happen when you're 27?)

I actually have no strong memories of 1990, my 27th year. I'm sure my work life was a mess (this was when I worked for PsychoBoss). We moved in June of that year to an upper flat that would have been lovely if it had been updated in our lifetime (the carpet was at least as old as I was!). Life outside of work was the best it had ever been, I was still skinny as a rail and working out regularly at the Y, and that might have been the year we bought our roll-top desk.

2) In 2007, the Colorado General Assembly named this one of the state's two official songs. (The other is "Where the Columbines Grow.") Do you know your state song?

I used to know--or at least be able to recognize--"Where the Columbines Grow" but it's been awhile. I'm not sure I've ever heard the state song for my current location. I do know the state song from a former state of residence--the one where my son was born--because we used its tune for my high school fight song.

3) John Denver was a dedicated environmentalist who wrote an anthem about Earth Day. Are you careful about your energy consumption? Do you recycle?

I'm sort of careful because I'm a cheapskate, and I have recycled for at least 40 years of my life, probably more.

4) 1975 is also the year that Denver released a collection of holiday songs called Rocky Mountain Christmas. On this August day, what's the first carol that comes to mind?

"Jingle Bells"--ugh!

5) Denver dabbled in photography in his spare time and friends say he was quite good. Tell us about your hobbies.

This is my hobby. And reading; I'm in the midst of book #s 65-70 right now. And general laziness.

6) In 1975, when this song was popular, mood rings were all the rage. It was said that the ring reflected the wearer's mood. Black = anxious/stressed, orange = worried, green = normal, blue = happy, pink = as good as it gets. As you respond to this week's Saturday 9, what color would your mood ring be?

Since there's no option for physically wiped out, I'll go with green, I guess. My mood ring was usually black or blue as I recall. It was all about relative skin temperature, and I had cold hands quite often.

7) Pet Rocks were 1975's other odd cultural phenomenon. Do you have any real-life, breathing pets?

We have two guinea pigs: Ruka and Pintobean. My brother had a pet rock, actually. ;-)

8) 1975 saw the premiere of Wheel of Fortune. Are you good at word puzzles?

I am! I love word puzzles. This summer is the 40th anniversary of my sister Ellen introducing me to full-on puzzle mode: acrostics, crosswords, word-searches, cryptograms.... It's all on her!

9) Random question: Did you sleep well last night?

I slept about like normal: 11 - 1:30 = out like a light. 1:30 - 4 = awake and reading/doing ^word puzzles^ on my Nook. 4 - 7:30 = zonked till Beast woke me up as he left to get the U-Haul. Those are pretty standard nighttime hours for me. So irritating--I really hope when I get my sleep study stuff sorted out, things change.

Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Margaritaville (1977)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song Jimmy sings of "booze in the blender." What do you prepare in your blender?

Milkshakes and fondue dips. Not at the same time.

2) As the song opens, Jimmy is sitting on his front porch swing. Describe the front porch of the building you're in right now.

We have a wonderful porch! Right now there's just a couple of (stacked) chairs and a small table on it--summer never really arrived for sitting out there; it was either too hot or too cold (mostly the latter). It's about 5 feet deep and runs the whole front of the house. Surrounded by bushes, recently trimmed.

3) Jimmy sings of being able to smell boiling shrimp. Do you prefer your shrimp boiled, glazed or breaded?

Not glazed. I like shrimp almost any way, including cold.

4) During the song, he mentions his flip flops. Have you put your flip flops and sandals away till spring? Or is it still warm enough to wear them?

I just did this morning. They may be retrieved, but most of the summer shoes are put away. Now I need to go get some new non-summer shoes.

5) Jimmy Buffett had hoped this song would be recorded by Elvis Presley, but The King died before he could perform it. What's the first Elvis song that comes to mind?

"Love Me Tender" [Ironically, perhaps: I'm watching "Flipping Las Vegas" right now...lol]

6) Buffett fans are known as Parrotheads. Concert attire for a well-dressed Parrothead often includes a Hawaiian shirt and a foam fin hat. What will you be wearing tonight?

The black capris and navy T I'm currently wearing. We're not going anywhere, and even if we did hit the store, this would be acceptable. My hair is kind of an issue however.

7) Loyal Parrotheads paid between $500 and $5000 to see Mr. Buffet at a fundraiser for Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential campaign. What's the most you would pay for a concert ticket?

I think my limit is probably $100 or so. And they'd better be good seats!

8) Jimmy is an outspoken environmentalist and supports causes like ocean conservation, saving the manatees and expanding the Dallas Zoo. What steps do you take to help save the planet?

We've been recycling paper/plastic/glass for our entire marriage. I try to reuse and upcycle most everything I buy, and I really REALLY don't like shopping, so buying loads of extra shit is not my thing. And I try to plan my driving to burn less gas but that's not always possible here.

9) Uh-oh. When Jimmy and the Coral Reefers played in Wisconsin this past August, more than two dozen concertgoers got tickets for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Do you believe pot should be legalized?

Yes, for cryin' out loud. They're talking about licensing a dispensary in my town though, so that's good. Though pot isn't legal without a prescription in this state, I'm hoping things change soon.

POST #6500

Horrifying!!

That is a lot of memes over the past 9 1/2 years!

And back to(wards) the beginning I go for this one. My original answers are in italics:

Librarian stereotypes meme

1. Own a cat(s)? Nope. Not at all interested in owning a cat because.... Nope. Allergic. More of a doggy person anyway.

2. Drive small sensible, economical car? Hellz no! I drive--as a coworker said when he first saw it--a tank, a.k.a. a Ford Edge. It gets decent mileage though, about the same as... Nope. Truck. (but it is small...)

3. Wear comfortable, sensible shoes? Comfortable, yes. Sensible, not always. And I buy a lot of shoes Some days. Today I'm wearing new shoes so they pinch a bit. I love shoes. There was a point--young-marrieds, no cash--when I was not even allowed to be near a shoe store! I've given up on the 3-inch heels and mules, though. ;-)

4. Read constantly? Less than I'd like, but,... Well, yeah.

5. Never goes out? Who am I kidding--I'd rather stay home. I like my couch and there's plenty of work to keep me busy. Or TV, or memes, or whatever.  Define "out." I go out all the time: to the store, to Little League games, to work, etc. OK, seriously...actually, I'm going to a bar this Friday. Otherwise, I don't have that much time to "go out." Because, see, I'm married. With a kid. And I work full time.

6. Sexually inexperienced? Less so than last time even. ;-) See the end of the last answer. Married. Kid. So....no.

7. Friend are all librarians? Nope. I know a lot of librarians, but I have "other kinds" of friends too. NO! In fact all my relatives are librarians....ok, only 2 others, the rest are teachers. My friends are bookkeepers (the $$ kind), chemists, small business owners, stay-at-home Moms, consultants, ComEd repair techs, and a few librarians.

8. Could care less about fashion? Yes. I really think fashion is ridiculous. I like to laugh at fashion. I don't like "girly" fashion, but do like comfy fashion: cargo pants, Tshirts, hoodies, jeans...

9. Lean to the left when it comes to politics? I don't just lean left... Yep. Got me here.

10. Was a nerd in high school? The older I get, the more I think there are only about 8 people in this country who didn't feel like nerds in high school. Got me here too. Hopeless nerd. For which I thank my stars!

11. Wear hair in a bun? Hair's too short now, but it is increasingly gray. Sigh. I'd actually like to figure out how to do a bun... But no, although in almost every other style I can figure out!

12. Am constantly covered in dust? Absolutely not! I'd be dead if I were around that much dust! Cheetos dust only.

13. Librarian by day/Bacardi by night? ...sigh... Nope. Not so much anymore for sure. Heh. I drink Bacardi. Not sure I have the tan for the ad campaign though...among other 'issues.'

14. Wear glasses? Not that they help much, but... Yep.

15. Female? In every way. Yep. Last time I checked the DNA.

16. Abilities in the yarn arts? No change here:  I can knit, but not particularly well. Don't know how to crochet. Or tat. Waiting till retirement to take that up... hah

The Queen's Meme

(Link in meme-roll)
The Green Meme

1. Do you recycle?

Yes, we do. Not to the degree that we probably could, but we've got extra buckets. I keep saying I'm going to start a compost pile, but I haven't yet.

2. Have you ever hung clothes on a line instead of using the clothes dryer?

That's mostly how my mom dried clothes when I was a kid. We have never lived in a house with a clothesline, and I'm pretty sure they're illegal in our subdivision. And anyway, I'm allergic to grass, so hanging out my clothes would be stupid.

3. Do you walk or bike to work to save energy?

I work 9 miles from work and right now the high daily temps are in the upper 30s. So no. In the summer, I wouldn't because of the country roads I'd have to deal with.

4. Do you use a water filter for your tap water or do you buy bottled water?

We have a well. And a water softener. And a filter in the fridge for the water in the door. But I drink tap water daily.

5. How many trees do you kill each year buying new books?

Not many. I use library books almost exclusively. Doesn't everyone?

6. Have you ever considered recycling your cellphone?

Yup. We mostly do, but at the phone store, not in public.

7. All you need are a few simple non-toxic ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap to clean your home. Are you willing to throw away the bottled chemicals?

You left out one ingredient: elbow grease. Lots and lots of elbow grease. And for that reason, I tend to only use green products on lightweight dirt.

Manic Monday

(Link in blogroll)

Do you recycle? Why or why not?

This question, 15 minutes after I told Sparky, "Just pitch [the aluminum baking pan]. It's too much trouble to rinse out and recycle." So yes, I do, but apparently only when it' convenient. I'll plead an exception tonight anyway: horrific headache. I may have to -- GASP! -- abstain from further computer-ing, in fact.

Would you rather be a pirate or a prince/princess?

I remember feeling distinctly 'princessy' (or at least celebrity-ish) in Russia toward the end of my time there. Life was so different for us--in our high-end Western-style hotel--compared to the overwhelming mass of the people living unaware of the impending end-times of the Soviet system. Being so separate and coddled was very uncomfortable to this egalitarian American chick. I noticed how it was changing me in a bad way when I had a temper tantrum over the beryozka being closed at 3 p.m. and thus depriving me of potable beverages of a non-alcoholic variety. "Stupid way to run a country! Who closes a store in the middle of the afternoon?!" And then, "Damn, get over yourself, bitch," resounded in my head when I realized our tour guide had heard me griping, she of the skunk-striped hair and the B52 bra and 5-year-out-of-date fashion. Because, that was top-of-the-line in the Soviet Union, and she had spent 6 hours that day touring us around, would spend another 4 hours after dinner shepherding us to the opera (yawn--Rossini sung in Russian); the in-between hours were probably spent standing in several lines to buy whatever food the shops had for her to take home. Spoiled little bitchy American = me.

I have no interest in robbing and killing people, which is, as near as I can tell, the job description for Pirate.

Are you into astrology? If yes, how does it affect your life?

Nope. I have created several star charts over the years, but it's pretty amazing that, if you leave the dates and names off the charts (or the daily predictions), they can be applied almost indiscriminately to people. Methinks, therefore, that astrology may be a humbug.