Monday Meme

1. If not (Chicago), I would live: All the places I think I might want to live, I haven’t been to. So I’m just guessing based on other people’s accounts. Austin, TX. San Diego, CA. Wine country, northern Cali. A horse ranch in Colorado, Texas, Montana . . . a small house near a stream/lake/river/ocean, anywhere. One of the gorgeous, slow-moving cities on the coas in the South – Charleston or Savannah or someplace like that. NYC – ok, I’ve been there. I would want to live there if I had no kids. But – I love Chicago! I think I could be happy here forever.
This . . .
or this

2. My dream holiday would be: A big family skiing vacation at Christmas in a gigantic, awesome cabin. Enough time that we don’t have to be stressed about travel, enough space that we don’t want to kill each other (until at least the last day).

 
3. Current obsessions:
Jason Mraz

Container veggie gardens

Repurposing clothing 
Spider Solitaire (it’s more fun than the original!)
4. I channel my childhood self when I: am outside. It’s minor, but I walk on grass, cross the street wherever, climb stuff, get wet, get dirty. It’s fun. I like to ride my bike a lot & not be restricted by where sidewalks & streets say I should ride.

5. If I had to be outdoors all day I would: Well, I do plan on doing that as soon as the weather permits. I will be on my back patio & futzing around in my yard. I’ll have music, food, stuff to read, a place to sit, dirt to dig in, kids to watch as they play in the field behind our house. I may also bring my sewing machine out there, because dude, why not?!

6. My favorite quality in a person is: I have two answers. I don’t want to be in a relationship with a person who is unkind. So being a nice person is most important. But what I appreciate most & connect most with is a good sense of humor.

7. I am terrified of: I don’t have any over-the-top fears I can think of. I don’t like it when people pretend to strangle me or when my kids are climbing on me & they choke me a bit. I don’t remember any traumatic experience with this but I freak out a little if someone has their hands on my neck in any capacity. Now, other body parts, like lips? Go to town!

(Don’t do this shit to me!!)

8. My dream car: Either a cool muscle car from the 60s or 70s, a rugged SUV (think International Scout), or a 60s-80s pickup. I like plain, rugged, dude cars.

9. My cocktail of choice is: Margarita! I love fruity drinks and this one is the best. I’ll take it any style but my favorite is the frozen swirl Margarita at On The Border.

10. My beauty product of choice: I don’t wear this anymore because it’s too expensive, but I used to live & die by Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. It looks super dark but when you put it on, it’s just a lip tint, lip gloss.
Perfect for every skin tone.   (now I use no products I like enough to endorse. I don’t really care about beauty products).
11. My friends and I like to: Get drinks, have laughs. Sing songs, dance around. We like it casual.
 
12. As a teenager I was totally into: The Beastie Boys. So much so that when I went to my 10 year reunion, everyone kept asking about them, referring to them. I’d forgotten this was such a part of my identity back then.

13. I tend to splurge on: Nothing. I have a hard time spending a lot of money on anything that isn’t a bill. I buy inexpensive stuff, mostly.

Wanna play?

Wee Bit Wednesday

I'm taking a mental break from the crippling job of coming up with a stage seating plan for the commencement (graduation) ceremony for my employer. It's not difficult, just requires my brain to work in a way it doesn't really like. Plus, it requires concentration without interruption, and I have very little of that in my work day. Whatevs!

Anyway, I'm eating lunch and thought I'd fill out the meme below. I saw it on Shannon's Growing Sweet Pea blog and the original linkup is through Leigh Ashley's blog (nice name, chica!).

{one} do you watch the history channel? if so, what’s your favorite program?I haven't had cable in a few years, so not lately. But I loved the History Channel back in the day. No particular program, but anything historical archeological or religious usually caught my attention. Yes, I first typed "historical". Shut up.
{two} what is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?Read, watch movies, lay around, sew, knit, play online. Which is basically what I like to do most days, except on rainy days I don't feel as guilty about not being outside enjoying nature.
{three} what does your dream house look like?I love Arts & Crafts Bungalows or Craftsman homes. I'd love one of those with a great front garden, porch to chill on, big backyard & garden, nice patio or deck for chillin . . . sunny rooms, little nooks & crannies, wood.

{four} what state were you born in?Texas! However, I was raised in . . . Kansas! I'm super nostalgic about it now that I don't live there any more. I miss the plains and the farms and the slow way of life, but when I lived there, I hated that people thought I lived in the country. I was a city girl, damnit! Now I'm REALLY a city girl and I know how country I actually used to be! ;)
Also, Kansas's state motto is, "Ad astra per aspera" which means, "To the stars through difficulty" which I respect a lot.
{five} do you have a change jar? if so, what do you use it for when it gets full?Currently, we're filling up a change jar that will be donated to the Emergency Fund as part of their Small Change Matters campaign! Even a dollar or two can make a difference to someone in need! I'll be writing more about this soon.
{six} what’s the first website you look at when you get on the computer?Gmail! Loooove it.
{seven} what is your favorite breakfast?I prefer savory over sweet. Hashbrowns, bacon, eggs . . . throw in some cheese and peppers and I'll max!
{eight} what’s the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken?I haven't been on a ton of big trips, but I think the 2 that stand out in my memory the most are going to Florida to compete in college dance team nationals, and having a grown-up girls' weekend in NYC last year.
{nine} do you prefer your coffee black or with cream/milk/sugar?I prefer to have a bit of coffee with my mega-overload of milk and sugar. I love chocolatey concoctions the most. I would love to appreciate coffee black, I feel it would make me much cooler than I am. But I just don't. I do love super dark chocolate though. Not the same . . .
{ten} have you ever done a professional photo shoot?Nope! Making a claw with my hand while surrounding the Tiger painted on the basketball court, along with my fellow college dance teammates . . . probably doesn't count.
It was kinda like this except it involved spandex:

Chuck Klosterman & my friend Jenny Mae

I have an online friend named Jenny Mae who I intend to meet one day. Until then, I enjoy her via ye olde internets. Jenny is a gardening, plug-wearing, red/baking/Jesus/music/tattoos/family loving, kinda-sorta anarchist in Columbus, Ohio. She’s also on Twitter, where she provides good thoughts and hilarity.

A while ago she passed on her responses to Chuck Klosterman’s 23 questions that he asks people before deciding if he can love them. You can read all of Chuck’s questions here and here (plus the answers that each of those bloggers gave), and if you google his name + 23 questions, you’ll find even more. But now, I’m going to share with you a couple responses Jenny Mae gave that show why I love her . . .

7. Defying all expectation, a group of Scottish marine biologists capture a live Loch Ness Monster. In an almost unbelievable coincidence, a bear hunter in the Pacific Northwest shoots a Sasquatch in the thigh, thereby allowing zoologists to take the furry monster into captivity. These events happen on the same afternoon. That evening, the president announces he may have thyroid cancer and will undergo a biopsy later that week.

You are the front page editor of The New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?

i'm far more interested in the paranormal, mysteries of the world than politics so the president is the low man on the totem pole right off the bat. if the president DIED, sure but a biopsy? i say good day sir! i'd run sasquatch because he was shot and an injury is more sensational and interesting than just being captured. HOWEVER! the loch ness monster was most certainly captured in scotland so this might finally be my "in" with david tennant (who is scottish, duh) if i profile nessie.

8. You meet the perfect person. Romantically, this person is ideal: You find them physically attractive, intellectually stimulating, consistently funny, and deeply compassionate. However, they have one quirk: This individual is obsessed with Jim Henson's gothic puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal. Beyond watching it on DVD at least once a month, he/she peppers casual conversation with Dark Crystal references, uses Dark Crystal analogies to explain everyday events, and occasionally likes to talk intensely about the film's "deeper philosophy."

Would this be enough to stop you from marrying this individual?

i can deal with the dark crystal if he can hang with my doctor who. win/win & lose/lose

18. You have won a prize. The prize has two options, and you can choose either (but not both). The first option is a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of $2,000. The second option is ten minutes on the moon.

Which option do you select?

I WOULD LOVE TO BE THE FIRST PERSON ON THE MOON!

(Jenny doesn’t believe we’ve been to the moon)

20. For whatever the reason, two unauthorized movies are made about your life. The first is an independently released documentary, primarily comprised of interviews with people who know you and bootleg footage from your actual life. Critics are describing the documentary as “brutally honest and relentlessly fair.” Meanwhile, Columbia Tri-Star has produced a big-budget biopic of your life, casting major Hollywood stars as you and all your acquaintances; though the movie is based on actual events, screenwriters have taken some liberties with the facts. Critics are split on the artistic merits of this fictionalized account, but audiences love it.

Which film would you be most interested in seeing?

the real one. i’m much more concerned about people's opinions that i know and love and clips of my actual doings than someone else's interpretation. however it'd be boss to see who plays me.

*  *  *

And here are a few more questions that I simply thought were funny.

23. Consider this possibility:

a. Think about deceased TV star John Ritter.

b. Now, pretend Ritter had never become famous. Pretend he was never affected by the trappings of fame, and try to imagine what his personality would have been like.

c. Now, imagine that this person—the unfamous John Ritter—is a character in a situation comedy.

d. Now, you are also a character in this sitcom, and the unfamous John Ritter character is your sitcom father.

e. However, this sitcom is actually your real life. In other words, you are living inside a sitcom: Everything about our life is a construction, featuring the unfamous John Ritter playing himself (in the role of your TV father). But this is not a sitcom. This is your real life.

How would you feel about this?

5. You meet your soul mate. However, there is a catch: Every three years, someone will break both of your soul mate's collarbones with a Crescent wrench, and there is only one way you can stop this from happening: You must swallow a pill that will make every song you hear--for the rest of your life--sound as if it's being performed by the band Alice in Chains. When you hear Creedence Clearwater Revival on the radio, it will sound (to your ears) like it's being played by Alice in Chains. If you see Radiohead live, every one of their tunes will sound like it's being covered by Alice in Chains. When you hear a commercial jingle on TV, it will sound like Alice in Chains; if you sing to yourself in the shower, your voice will sound like deceased Alice vocalist Layne Staley performing a capella (but it will only sound this way to you).

Would you swallow the pill?

14. For reasons that cannot be explained, cats can suddenly read at a twelfth-grade level. They can't talk and they can't write, but they can read silently and understand the text. Many cats love this new skill, because they now have something to do all day while they lay around the house; however, a few cats become depressed, because reading forces them to realize the limitations of their existence (not to mention the utter frustration of being unable to express themselves).

This being the case, do you think the average cat would enjoy Garfield, or would cats find this cartoon to be an insulting caricature?

Just a *little* weird

Annie over at the Wattlebird blog wrote about how weird she is, and I thought I’d follow suit. Here are 6 strange/possibly interesting things you probably don’t know about me:

 

1. When I’m at work, I must open my Outlook first so it’s on the far left on my lower toolbar. If I ever accidentally close my Outlook while other programs are open, I’ll close all other programs so that when I open Outlook again, it’ll be on the far left. Mainly, this is because I use Outlook so heavily that I like to be able to go directly to it without having to search too much.

 

2. I have little tapping & touching quirks. For example, if I step on a sidewalk crack with one foot, I need to step on another crack, with the other foot, at the same spot on my foot. I.E. if it’s my toes that touch the crack on my right foot, I need my left toes to touch the next crack. If I attempt to make my toes touch the next crack, and instead touch it with the middle of my foot – now I STILL need to touch a crack with my left toes and now I ALSO have to touch a crack with the middle of my RIGHT foot. I don’t really have to think about this too much, I just kind of do it automatically. If something prevents me from finishing this little . . . whatever it is . . . I don’t flip out or anything. But I have a slight feeling of “something is unfinished” for a while. I also do strange finger tapping and rubbing (I rub patterns on my fingernails with my other fingers) and it all has to even out.

 

3. I often think of seriously morbid and horrific things happening, all around and to me. For example, as I cross a bridge on the way to work, I think, “What if someone came up behind me and just pitched me into the freezing river?” and I think about how I hope I won’t panic but will force myself to swim to the edge before the water makes my muscles freeze up. Or maybe I should just try to float on my back. But my heavy coat and shoes might make that difficult, so should I take them off so I’m more bouyant, or will I freeze faster that way? I imagine being kidnapped, run over by cars, trapped in fires, driving off cliffs, being impaled, all kinds of stuff like that. Now, before you advise me to seek professional help, understand that I don’t WANT any of those things to happen. But I do imagine them, very matter-of-factly. I like to be prepared, you know? Don’t park next to vans.

 

4. I have a lot of conflicting and contradictory beliefs and attitudes:

a. I believe a lot of conspiracy theories and I really don’t trust many people in power. I fully expect high-ranking people of all organizations and societies to be involved in some really evil stuff. I teach my kids that if they’re lost, to first look for someone who looks like a mom – not to try and find a police officer or other uniformed person. At the same time, I have an old-school outlook on parenting, respect for elders and authority and position. My Dad’s a cop and a good one.

b. I believe in hard work, personal responsibility and looking past your crappy circumstances to find something better to hope for and work towards. I am not very sympathetic to people who can’t seem to handle every day life. At the same time, when I consider a person to have suffered disadvantages in their upbringing, I am quick to excuse their poor choices and behavior and point to the big bad system who has done them wrong and taken away their access to doing things the right way.

 

5. I often turn dark purple when speaking in front of groups. Even with people I’m very comfortable with and have spoken in front of a bazillion times before. Even when it’s just discussing something during a work meeting. You can always tell if I’m embarrassed, upset or flustered by something – my face will be purple.

 

6. I am completely fascinated with Colonial/Pioneer/Amish/Mennonite cultures. Basically if you had to make something out of a rock or a tree to get by, I am interested in hearing your story. Also, I found out that an ancestor of mine helped found Germantown in Philadelphia. It’s a Quaker/Mennonite area, and happens to be where the abolition movement in the U.S. began. Yay! Run and get Colonial House and Frontier House from your local library or Netflix. I guarantee you will both want to go through those experiences, and realize that your romantic notions of those eras are very unrealistic!

So – are you strange, too?