Unconscious Mutterings for this week (couldn't pass this one up!):
Homework: A Household Meme questions from last three weeks...
HomeWork: Week 31
What about outdoor work: how much time do you devote to it? Is your yard well-manicured, or does it tend to look like a prairie? Do you sweep your porch regularly, or only when leave and dust begin to create visible hills? If you have an apartment with little or no outside maintenance required, did this play a part in your decision to live there?
Acck, neither my husband or I do yardwork. We have people come in every two weeks and mow the yard and blow the pine needles off the roof. I'd really like to have a nicer looking yard, but I can't tolerate the heat or pollen from working outside. Amazingly, though, our yard is pretty healthy.
HomeWork: Week 30
Do you have a "junk closet"? "Junk drawer"? A junk room? Where do you stick stuff that has no other designated home? Does it bother you, or is it a case of "out of sight, out of mind"? Snap a picture of your catch-all space, if you're brave.
I try really, really hard NOT to have junk repositories around the house. I'll actually file stuff in lieu of leaving it sitting around whenever possible. I have a little rolling milk crate thingy under my desk that I dump random magazines in, and a big magazine sized envelope in the crate that I try and put loose receipts in as soon as I've recorded them in my checkbook, etc. Then I'll go through and file or trash them maybe two or three times a year. I have folders in my filing cabinets for things like medical and pharmacy receipts, post office receipts, and the masses of weekly eBay paperwork I accumulate. I have a shelf devoted to just magazines and catalogues and I try and weed it out every so often... Piles of paper follow me around and breed like rabbits so I have to make a huge effort to fight them off.
Actually the ickiest room in our house is probably the garage because I have a lot of random packing materials for eBay out there. I actually have some of it organized, but all of the boxes waiting to be reused tend to be a leaning tower of terror sometimes.
HomeWork: Week 29
How do you cope with living with other people whose ideas of "clean enough" differ drastically from yours? Are your housemates comfortable with much more clutter than you are, or perhaps much less? What compromises have you found? (Or do you compromise, in the case of family or children?)
My husband is a neat freak in ways I'm not and vice-versa. He likes to vacuum constantly and neither of us like to leave dirty dishes lying around. But instead of putting them in the dishwasher he'll balance them all on a towel on the counter to dry which drives me nuts.
I don't care if the bed doesn't get made daily, but it drives him nuts. Our compromise there is if I make it I'll throw the comforter over the pillows instead of laying all of them on top of it so it's easier to unmake. (We have tempurpedic pillows, they weight a ton).
He also has even more stuff than I do, but we sort of divided the house up - I get my office/living room, most of the kitchen, the hall bath and the master bedroom. He can put his stuff in the rest of the house (his room is a claustrophobic's nightmare). He's trying to work his way into the master bedroom, he thinks I haven't noticed, but I'm keeping an eye on it ;-) It's the only room in the house which is sort of unfinished and he's been told he's not allowed to clutter it up.
We each dust our own respective rooms (usually before company comes over), and clean our own bathrooms, etc.
OK, I clicked on one of my own Blogsnob links and got sucked into a cool quiz. (Blogsnob is the last link under my Blogs of... category to the right, it has a little BS next to it and changes constantly)
I'm still amazed at how close some of these quizzes come, though I'm not nearly as much of a doormat as I used to be, thank goodness...
20 Questions to a Better Relationship
Expressive: 3/10
Practical: 9/10
Physical: 4/10
Giver: 6/10
You are a RPIG--Reserved Practical Intellectual Giver. This makes you a Rock of Gibraltar.
You are loyal, kind, thoughtful and conscientious. You're a good person. You make everyone around you happier and better, even if you yourself are not at your happiest or best. You just care so much about your friends and loved ones that you can't help giving them everything of yourself. It can wear you out, but you'd never let on.
You're successful, smart and fun to be with, but your self-esteem could use some boosting. You don't like conflict, and you don't like demanding things for yourself, so you can feel unappreciated. But then you wonder if you don't deserve to be appreciated. You do!
You have many small crushes, but it takes you ages to get to a serious stage with someone. You get so caught up second-guessing yourself and worrying if the other person really *likes* likes you that you never dare to make the first move. Generally you end up with another clever RPIG who knows one when s/he sees one. This adds up to one long courtship. Fortunately this also adds up to one long marriage.
You would never cheat. You would never hurt anyone's feelings. You are so sympathetic and give so many second chances that it takes a lo-o-ong time for anyone to get on your bad side.
Your only problem is you can be *too* thoughtful -- you can end up worrying and getting hung up over nothing.
You may be a boy scout. (I was a girl scout...)
Of the 26397 people who have taken this quiz, 6.2 % are this type.
Inspired and plagiarized from Fluffy Battle Kitten
Thirteen random things you like:
Twelve movies that you like watching:
Eleven TV shows you watch (current faves):
Ten things about you [physically]:
Nine things about you [emotionally, mentally, spiritually]:
Eight favorite foods/drinks:
Seven things you wear daily:
Six things that annoy you:
Five things you touch everyday:
Four good bands/artists:
Three places you go regularly:
Two possessions that you love
One person you could spend the rest of your life with
Homework: A Household Meme current questions...
Pets: are they worth the added housework? How much extra work around the house (besides the work required for their regular care) do your pets create for you? Do, or did, you factor in housework when deciding to get a pet? Do the benefits outweigh the headaches, at least on most days?
They do create more housework, especially dogs, but the rest of the physical upkeep is one of the things that's making us really think hard about getting another dog. My health is unstable and my husband wants another big dog, we had two dogs (9 years and 16 years) and are kind of taking a break right now. I worry that I won't be able to keep up with a dog and a cat, because we spoil our pets rotten and proper care of a large dog is a lot of work. Our cat sheds amazingly little (she's a short-haired Burmese) and the main effort required with her is keeping her occupied and exercised, she's as hyper as a Border Collie and wants to play 24/7, she brings toys into the bedroom while I sleep in hope.
We had two outdoor dogs for nine years till one passed and the other (a black Lab) gradually became an indoor dog. She shed like crazy and we had another cat at the time also who also shed, so black & white hairs were floating around the house and my husband was vacuuming daily (he's a vacuuming fanatic so I let him). As our dog got older and it was harder for her to get up and down we had a LOT more housework for the last year or two (and were constantly worried about leaving the house even to go eat dinner) so it was a lot of stress but of course it was worth it. (See Furry Family Members for more info and photos of our pets)
I actually read on the internet that Labs are very heavy shedders and silkier haired Golden Retrievers shed less. My parents had Goldens, but they were always outside so I don't know it that's true or not. But Labs shed a lot more than you'd imagine.
us other pets that come and go so compared to her I've got it really easy.
The kitty knocks some of the litter out of her box, and occasionally throws up somewhere but is not bad at all compared to our last cat who we sometimes referred to as Exorcist Kitty and had a preference for sofas and beds. She is the first cat we've had that has her claws but she's very good about using her post except when she gets bored and wants attention. We keep a throw on the sofa for her to climb and to catch any hair.
The handiest tool I've found is a battery-operated kitty scoop that makes cleaning the litterbox much faster (it vibrates and shakes itself). I know it sounds weird, but it really works.
And then there's always the pest-control advantage of having a cat, especially in the swampy South.
But the main stress of owning a pet for me has always been the fact that I worry about them constantly. Yes, even the cat. I could never have children, I'd never let them leave the house...
Homework: A Household Meme Week 27 questions...
(I'm on a roll... and avoiding work ;-)
Which are your preferences? What do you actually have?
Carpet or hardwood floors? Carpet is comfier but hardwoods are prettier. Hardwoods with rugs on them? Most of our house is hardwoods, just the den and hall are carpeted.
Blinds or curtains? I like to use both together, but I like the way curtains look. Especially curtains with sheers. We have both blinds and curtains in the bedroom to block the light, and the cheesy blinds that were in the house when we bought it up everywhere else but the living room picture window which has a really old curtain. I'd like to get new everything in the house, some nice blinds that actually block the light. And get rid of our horrid vertical blinds in the den!
Tiles or sheet linoleum? Don't like either. Linoleum is ugly and tile is too hard (and hard to keep clean). Our kitchen has linoleum, I want to replace it with Pergo or wood actually.
Paint or wallpaper? Paint, I hate wallpaper. We have one wall in our living room with flowery paper that needs to be torn off, but most of it is covered with bookshelves. And the bathroom has a sloppy wallpaper job the previous owners did that's coming undone now.
Even more word association games, actually done on time, Wednesday Mind Hump
Unconscious Mutterings for this week
Haven't done a meme in a long time...
Withering heights? Oh well, the rest of the description fits well, I am English, Irish and German, and the UK is on the top of my "visit someday" list:
Your personality is also a match: Like many English, you value singularity—a lack of inclination to create bonds and acceptance of inherent conflicts among people. For you, a sense of rules is important; and you have a healthy respect for institutions, conventions and rules. You are prone to strong feelings of national pride and national identity to your country. Although pragmatic in day-to-day activities, you can fall quite easily into flights of fancy and idealism.
You are tenacious in the face of adversity and have a humor that is partial to ironic understatement and dry wit. You tend, either in modes of thinking or dress, to lean toward a hip eccentricity. You often have a hard time expressing your intimate feelings and you may, in fact, reject that kind of self-expression as “unseemly.” You don’t like to touch or hug people you don’t know very well.
London is your soul city—with its unique, cosmopolitan mix of young and old, hip avant-garde, working class bravado, age-old pageantry and new immigrant flavor. Visit it one day. You may not want to leave!
Homework: A Household Meme current questions...
HomeWork: Week 19
Take a good look around you. What's the most pressing disaster brewing in your house? A mammoth pile of laundry? A Leaning Tower of Dishes? A junk closet about to explode? Do you have any immediate plans for dealing with it, or is it hidden enough that you can ignore it a while longer?
I don't even have to think about that one, the entire bedroom needs major dusting. Both sets of floor to ceiling drapes, the floors, the crowded bookcase, the top of the armoire, the ceiling fan, under the bed, yuck! I know it doesn't sound that major, but we can't really start till we get the drapes done and they're relatively new (and dark cobalt blue), so we're sort of unsure where to begin. And anything we do will make me ill for days from all the dust :-(
Homework: A Household Meme current questions. I told myself I wasn’t going to do this one, because I don’t really consider myself a housewife, but the questions are too fun to pass up. And I’m am wife who works from home, so...
I went back and did some of the archived questions also (click Read More below), there are some really interesting ones.
HomeWork: Week 18
The phone rings. You've got unexpected company coming over in an hour! Look around your house. Is it company-ready? What can you do in an hour to get it up to the level that would make you comfortable?
Make the bed, straighten my office a bit (it’s in the living room), swish out the toilet, put new hand towels & toilet paper out, close the shower curtain, stuff anything into the closets that looks junky sitting out... Try and wipe some of the baby powder out of the hall bathroom, the stuff goes everywhere :-( Make sure I have a few cokes in the fridge. Our house isn’t usually dirty, mostly cluttered, working at home I often have a lot of “things” laying around in progress. Hopefully there won’t be any dishes in the sink...
HomeWork: Week 15
What is your favorite thing about your current house/apartment/domicile of other sort? What's your least favorite?
Probably the layout, for both questions. Our house has really good flow between the rooms, but my office has no privacy because it’s the living room. Someday I’ll figure out how to add pocket doors or something...
Also the wood floors are pretty, one of the reasons we bought the house, but they are also hard and get very dusty. We upgraded to storm windows a few years ago and that has been great, it makes the house nice and quiet and temperature controlled :-)
HomeWork: Week 13
Do you own any tried-and-true housework manuals or books? Have you belonged to any housekeeping or organizational groups, such as FlyLady? How have these worked for you?
I have Too Busy to Clean? which has good tips, and Home Comforts - the Art and Science of Keeping House which is a massive reference tome. (Ha! I just saw your mention at the beginning of the archives, I’m no Martha Stewart either ;-) I also have several organizing and closet books (because I’m obsessed with organizing). I have Julie Morgenstern’s Organizing From the Inside Out and get her newsletter, which is fun.
I’m also addicted to the Home & Garden Channel, and always try to catch Mission Organization and TLC’s Clean Sweep. I also have a book called Spiritual Housecleaning, but I haven’t read it yet. The single most useful household book I have is my old Fannie Farmer Cookbook my grandmother gave me when I moved into my first apartment. When you forget how long to boil eggs or bake potatoes, it's nice to have around.
HomeWork: Week 12
When was the last time you moved house? How long did it take you to pack? How long did it take you to get out of the boxes? Does your unpacking method more closely resemble the "get it all done as quickly as possible" style or the "do it slowly, do it right" one?
We just celebrated our sixth anniversary in our house, and we lived in our last house for seven years. Before I met my husband I used to move a lot and it was all very haphazard. My first big move out of town broke me of that, though, when it took me over a week to find my bath towels!
When we bought our house we had to wait an agonizing three months to move, so we packed and labeled everything to death. And it still took us 12 hours with two professional movers to get everything from one house to the other (just a few miles apart). We had a ton of stuff, and actually got rid of a lot of things at a pre-moving garage sale. We unpacked most of the boxes (lots went straight into storage) within a few days of moving, because it drives both of us nuts to be tripping over boxes. The only unfortunate thing is that the people we bought the house from were literally moving out when we were moving in, so we couldn’t bring in anything over in advance or do anything like paint the walls.
HomeWork: Week 8
How often do you grocery shop? Do you have a usual day or time for shopping? What's your budget for a typical grocery run?
I try for just once a week, but I go to the neighborhood supermarket and Sam’s Club. And, when I get a chance, Whole Foods. I don’t have a set day, it’s usually when we start running out of the important things, like my husband’s Mountain Dew, toilet paper, bottled water. I average about $200 bucks for the weekly basic groceries, but we don’t eat out a lot and I do buy some convenience foods, mostly from Sam’s. I like to go in the evenings, but a lot of times the stock is lacking, especially in fresh things like bagged salads.
HomeWork: Week 4
When you were a child, did you keep your room neat, or was it a disaster area? Why do you think that was?
It was organized but very cluttered. Lots of books, lots of Barbie stuff, many horses... I’ve always been a book fiend, that’s usually the majority of my clutter, books and papers. I hated having to make the bed and little things like that, though. Nothing nasty laying around, though, like old food (we have huge roaches in Houston!). My parents house was fairly spartan, though, so in comparison I was pretty messy.
HomeWork: Week 3
If you live with other people, how do you divide the housework? If you live alone, what chores would you like to give away, and which would you keep?
My husband is obsessed with vacuuming, so I let him. He’s also good at doing the dishes, but I don’t mind putting them up. I HATE dusting, it kills my allergies for days afterwards. I also don’t like cleaning the bathroom, though I’m pretty good about swishing the toilet out regularly. I’m rotten at sweeping too, we have lots of wood floors, hubby usually ends up doing that.
Week One
How often do you...
...clean your bedroom? It’s SOO dusty, very neat, but dusty. We need to have a pro in there to do the curtains so we don’t ruin them (that’s our excuse, at least)
...wash your sheets? Not often enough, every few weeks maybe. I’ll do the pillowcases every week or so, though.
...mop the kitchen floor? Usually when something breaks and we have to pick up bits of glass anyway.
...vacuum? Hubby vacuums several times a week, when we had an indoor dog he would do it almost daily. I think it’s therapeutic to him...
...dust? When it gets so bad we can’t stand it, or when we’re going to have major guests over. We have over 20 bookcases in the house and every one of them is full (sigh).
...clean the toilets? I do mine regularly, whenever anything starts appearing that shouldn’t. My husband does his every few months when it gets downright scary. His bathroom seems to have less air circulation of something, luckily it’s not the guest bathroom.
...scrub the tub? Mine stays pretty clean, except for a bit of mildew around the caulk. His looks like the shroud of turin and is a major undertaking that he only does about 3 or 4 times a year.
TV Tuesday questions for this week, first time...
1. Do you watch daytime talk TV? If so, which shows do you watch? Do you prefer the calm shows like Oprah or the wilder side like Jerry Springer? When I wake up early enough I’ll watch Oprah and Dr. Phil. Oprah’s been doing too many celebrity interview type things lately, though, which bore me. I watch more night time talk & news shows, I like shows that are useful and entertaining. I can’t stand the “yelling, screaming, fake drama” shows like Jerry Springer. I’d probably watch Ellen if I were awake when she was on.
2. Which daytime talk TV show would you like to be on? What would the topic be? Probably Oprah, but I’d be scared to death...
3. Is there a daytime talk TV show you miss that's no longer on the air? Is there someone you'd like to see get a daytime talk TV show? Not daytime, but I really miss Phil Donahue. I miss Johnny Carson too. I liked Rosie’s show, but she seemed a little stressed out towards the end.
Bonus- Before talk TV took over game shows ruled the airways during the day, which do you prefer? Or are you a soap opera fan? The only actual soap opera I ever seriously watched was Dark Shadows. When I was in college I got sucked into General Hospital for a short time during the Luke & Laura epic (it was fun to sit in a room full of women talking back to the TV). I loved game shows as a kid, but they were completely different. I mean, “Let’s Make a Deal”, what’s not to love!
For last week’s question, I watched part of TV Land’s "Addams Family" marathon, and part of TLC’s “What Not to Wear” marathon. I actually try not to watch as much TV anymore, but I’ve sat and watched it all day in my youth, till the National Anthem played, zzzzzz...
Dark Shadows had the biggest influence on me growing up. I have vivid memories of watching it with our housekeeper when I was very young and hiding behind the couch when Barnabas would appear. After that Bewitched, The Munsters and Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie, classic Star Trek. Lots of memories of watching the Carol Burnett Show also.
Unconscious Mutterings for this week
And more word association, the Wednesday Mind Hump for this week...
Unconscious Mutterings for this week
OK, I actually got it up finally... if you've got some extra time, look at the index to the right to check out my 300 Things About Me list (sorry, I got carried away). I actually wrote this about a month ago in a moment of rambling inspiration, and have now gone back through it and hopefully caught all the spelling & grammatical errors. It's sort of in chronological order, though I do stray from time to time, I hope it makes some sort of sense... More About Me stuff and links & pics to go along with the list to come.
More comments :-) Thanks to CP for the link on sleep paralysis, I will check it out. I have suffered from this before, also overly lucid and waking dreams, which is always sort of alarming. I've jumped out of bed and ran across the room thinking there was something dripping from the ceiling, and it's always fun to wake up and think you see someone or something (often a large spider) right in front of you (shudder).
Daydreaming on Paper writing prompt
Wow, that's heavy. I'd like to vote Dubya out of office... I'd like to have written at least three books. I'd like to be financially independent from everyone for once in my life. I'd like to be fit, healthy and able to see again properly. I'd like to keep all of my own teeth.
I don't really know... I'd just like to have lived a happy, low stress, uncomplicated life... and I want my husband to have had the same. And cat :-) The only real material possession I can think of I'd want is another muscle car, maybe another Corvette. I really like to drive.
Wednesday Mind Hump for this week, I have a total lack of imagination tonight, maybe this will help...
01. You are a character from a children fairy tale or nursery rhyme. Who are you and why? Matilda, Who Told Such Dreadful Lies, and was Burned to Death, because I'm weird and I like that story (can you tell I don't have kids?)
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs and Bow.
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,
They galloped, roaring through the Town,
‘Matilda’s House is Burning Down!’
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda’s Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed;
And even then she had to pay
To get the men to go away!
It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out -
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street -
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence) - but all in vain!
For every time She shouted ‘Fire!’
They only answered ‘Little Liar!’
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.
02. You are a magic potion. What is your main ingredient(s) and what are you used for? For some unknown reason cinnamon keeps popping into my brain. I like cinnamon on toast with sugar and butter, but it is a tremendously potent spice, walking into most craft and import shops the smell of cinnamon that hits you in the face at the front door makes my eyes water. And a little mandrake root, which must be harvested at midnight by the deaf because the sound it makes when it's pulled from the ground will drive anyone within hearing insane. Glitter, because it's so pretty and can never be completely removed once it's thrown. And some rosemary, lavender and cloves to smell pretty. When thrown I would neutralize the irrational anger in the world and raise people levels of common sense. And perhaps add a few IQ points to those in need.
03. Tell us your favorite joke. It can be naughty but clean up the language, puhleeze. I don't really a favorite, I'm an awful joke teller. I do like the official funniest joke in the world of 2002, though...
He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"
04. Imagine you're in the Old West. What town character would you be and what would your colorful nickname be? Example: School Marm - Old Widow Maples... Dead Eye Tish, because I'd always have a pistol and I'd be such an expert shot that no one would mess with me ;-)
05. You are a mythological diety/god. What are you the god of? What offering(s) would worshippers lay at your feet? If one displeased you how would you smite them? I'd like to be Diana/Artemis (there's a bit of a feminist theme to these answers), because she's brave, beautiful and a wild creature. Hmmmm... I'd like offerings of the finest foods, lots of dark chocolate and cured meats. If someone pissed me off I would make them feel guilt for every wrong they've ever done, feel the pain of anyone/thing they've ever hurt. (Wow, I'm mean! Must be the PMS...)
Unconscious Mutterings for this week
OK, I know I'm a day late, I got distracted last night...
Like everyone else, I sat on my butt for two hours watching Friends and the clip show beforehand. I feel bad because I'd sort of been neglecting Friends the last couple of years, but I've been trying to watch it more often this season. I'm glad they tied everything up nicely, we need more happy endings these days and it pleased me irrationally to see Ross and Rachel finally get together for good. And the twin babies for Monica and Chandler were a nice touch.
On another note, the Friday Five girl (woman really) threw in the towel, which is disappointing but I can't blame her at all. I've thought of doing a weekly meme but I'm in over my head between multiple websites, weblog and two eBay stores. She's also running the Globe of Blogs (which is an enormous undertaking) and lots of other things it sounds like. So I really need to pick some new memes now, if for no other reason than to make sure I put something online at least once or twice a week.
I need to find another Meme, Friday Five has been down for an I'm sure much needed rest and I need inspiration... And to do something other than just list things on eBay, my brain is starting to hurt.
Went by Unconscious Mutterings earlier, got this word association meme to do:
Of course, there's always the Meme List. I really should pick a Wednesday one, hmmm...
The page layout at Wednesday Mind Hump scares me but I like their questions:
Daydreaming on Paper gave me this prompt:
From the archives - January 10, 2003
1. Where are you right now? Sitting at my desk in my living room/office
2. What time is it? 1:15 am
3. What are you wearing? A black short-sleeved tee shirt, light grey Old Navy capri pants, black socks and navy slippers (it's wash day!).
4. Any people or animals around you? Describe them. My husband is watching a Conan O'Brien rerun in the next room, my cat is napping on top of my big CD rack. Sparky is about 6' tall with brownish-reddish and a bit of silver in his hair, he's a big boned buy, and he's probably wearing his sleep shirt and socks. Phoebe is my black smoke Burmese, she's a medium sized very athletic kitty with a dainty little face and big gold eyes which are closed right now.
5. What are your plans for the weekend? I honestly am clueless... nothing specific, I need to work on trying to sell stuff on eBay to make some money, it's so dead right now. I'd like to work on my website some also.
From the archives of my birthday:
January 3, 2003
1. Do you wear any jewelry? What kind? I always wear a watch, I have like half a dozen, mostly Fossils and one really nice Citizen, it depends on the weather if it's hot or cold because of the change in fit, I have small wrists. If we're going out somewhere nice I'll wear my wedding ring, which is a 1920's white gold european cut small diamond in a filigree setting. I have a quartz crystal on a herringbone silver chain that I've been wearing non-stop since I got it in about 1985. I used to wear at least little tiny hoop earrings regularly when I had a 9-5 job, but now I have to remind myself to wear them from time to time so my ears don't close up. And I went nuts on Italian charm bracelets earlier this year and try and wear them when I think about it, I like them because they're not dangly and they're so much fun! I have tons of costume jewerly and barely wear any of it, I need to sell some more off on eBay...
2. How often do you wear it? If I'm leaving the house the watch, crystal necklace and maybe a charm bracelet are the first things I grab, I go nuts without a watch. I don't wear my wedding ring most of the time because I'm afraid I'll lose it or break it, I'm hard on jewelry. I used to wear a lot of rings, but I have big knuckles and a lot of my old ones don't fit anymore, I have one from the 70's that been repaired and resized like six times.
3. Do you have any piercings? If so, where? Just my ears, once. Didn't get it done till I was in my mid-twenties when I found a gorgeous pair of amethyst earrings and I told myself it they went on sale and I could afford them I'd get my ears pierced. I rarely wear the earrings anymore, though.
4. Do you have any tattoos? If so, where? No, if I did it would be something spooky, like a bat or the bat symbol.
5. What are your plans for the weekend? Put stuff up on eBay Saturday night, read a little bit, work on my website and play with GoLive some more.
Yea! Friday Five is back, I was getting a little worried...
1. What do you do for a living? I work at home selling things on eBay.
2. What do you like most about your job? I can work all night and sleeip all day, and I don't have to leave the house or deal with the public daily.
3. What do you like least about your job? I never stop working, I don't have set start and stop times.
4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because ... Someone is being particularly rude or stupid abut something, but at least it's by email.
5. What other career(s) are you interested in? I'd like to write a book.
Oh good, creative questions. I've been really striving for some creativity this week, I'm making a sincere effort to redesign & streamline my main site and actually get the everything up and loaded. Creativity is hard for me, it always feels very mechanical, but somehow I always seem to get it done. Never to my satisfaction, but that's the hell of being a perfectionist.
If you...
1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve? Probably really good steaks. Nice, simple, hearty food. I'm a very simplistic cook, steaks and pasta are my strong suits.
2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell? I do have two online stores on eBay, one that's Gothic & Wiccan oriented (where I also sell things for other people, mostly DVDs. movie memorabilia and beauty products) and one just for me where I sell antique postcards. I love selling postcards, they're unique and easy to mail, though not a big money maker. I wish I could focus more on jewelry on my other store, but it's a very expensive inventory to have to stock. If I had a brick and morter store, I'd probably like to have a little book store, personally, I love to be surrounded by books. My first job was at the public library here and I eventually had to quit because it was too difficult for me to shelve the books without wanting to read them. When I left I had over 200 books checked out, a few of them turned up years later, oops...
3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be? A vampire romantic suspense novel. It's another project that I have outlined out but have never gotten very far on.
4. ...ran a school, what would you teach? I don't have the patience to be a teacher, but probably organization. It's one of the weird things that I'm naturally good at and actually really enjoy.
5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it? I have a weird Irish white girl voice, kind of monotone, not a lot of volume, but my favorite people to sing along to that I can actually keep in tune with are Poe, Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks and Sinead O'Connor. I'd probably want to do something a little spooky but not really ethereal, more alternative. I'd love to be able to do something jazz, or a kick ass alt rock album, but I don't have the voice for it. Probably my favorite sing-along record of all time is Barbra Joan Streisand... Space Captain... (my husband shudders violently, he really hates that song ;-)
Didn't do last week's questions, too busy and too old, I don't remember my teacher's names, way too many years ago. But I'll give this week a shot.
1. What was the last song you heard? I was listening to Pretty Girls Make Graves latest CD The New Romance earlier when I turned my stereo off to watch Conan O'Brien earlier (a nightly ritual if it's not a rerun). I think I was up to "The Teeth Collector". I haven't been able to get that one out of my CD player since I bought it, very addictive.
2. What were the last two movies you saw? Haven't been to the movies in a few months, been meaning to see "Monster" and I have a video of "Thirteen" that's been staring at me for a month. I watched "Lost in Translation" on DVD (loved it, thought Bill Murray should have won). Before that I think the last movie I actually sat and watched all the way through is "Message From Space" because Sparky was showing it on 16mm at the house for some friends, trippy 70's Japanese sci-fi, very weird.
3. What were the last three things you purchased? Nothing interesting, I went to the grocery store this afternoon. Got more Starbucks Vanilla Latte, some Diet Mountain Dew for Sparky and an issue of Cooking Light, which I haven't bought in ages, but the dish on the cover is pasta with bacon & cheese, yummm...
4. What four things do you need to do this weekend? Move more of my eBay pictures to my new webhosting service, work on my main website, call my parents, get St. Patrick's Day cards and mail thm.
5. Who are the last five people you talked to? The hubbie, of course, my cat, my dad, the clerk at the grocery store, and Pam at the post office.
Damn, I haven't written anything for over two weeks, sorry about that... Been too busy, too depressed, had the same headache for about that length of time, etc., etc. The kitty's been very demanding of my time (she's become very vocal when she's not getting enough playtime in). She's sitting and staring at me right now...
We had a group of friends get together for a movie tonight and the grand finale was watching the last half of Rocky Horror on Bravo. Everyone was all over the audience participation comments, some of my younger friends had some lines I'd never heard. I haven't felt so "in" in years. And like clockwork, everyone decided to leave as soon as the floorshow was over. The funniest part was everyone chiming in as loud as possible after Rocky's first line in the floor show, that comment has apparently stayed the same over the years ;-)
I like this week's questions, easy and still somewhat thoughtful:
When was the last time you...
1. ...went to the doctor? I actually know that one, it was mid December. I'm due for my annual checkup, though, just one more month of BC pills left.
2. ...went to the dentist? Oww, I'm way overdue and have the discomfort to prove it. (And the codeine) It was over two years ago when I went in and used up my last bit of dental insurance and in that time I've ruined several more crowns and have some really rough areas in my molars. It ain't gonna be pretty this time, but I have genetically bad teeth, I never get out with just a cleaning.
3. ...filled your gas tank? About two weeks, just looked at it the other day, it's still about half full. The weather's been really crappy here lately (rainy and cold) so I haven't really gone anywhere to speak of. One of the perks of working at home...
4. ...got enough sleep? I rarely get enough sleep even when I stay in bed till mid afternoon (I don't sleep well even with copius amounts of meds), but day before yesterday I actually felt like I had gotten a good night's for the first time in ages. Some strange fluke I guess.
5. ...backed up your computer? That's been at the top of my list the last few days since getting some new software. My hard drive is 40 gig and my external is 80 so I can't actually back it up properly, but I need to dump a lot of stuff onto disks to make some room, I'm down to less than a gig on both of them. I saw a cool external hard drive the other day in MacZone that's 160 gig for like $250, but I'm out of Firewire jacks and I have USB 1, so I'm not sure where I'd plug it in.
Late as usual, been sick with a sinus infection all week making me dizzy. And the on and off rain and constant temperature changes have had me popping codeine all week (not to much avail, unfortunately).
OK, the questions for last Friday are -
You have just won one million dollars:
1. Who do you call first? Since both my husband and I work at home, chances are he'd already know... After him, my parents, then my best friend.
2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself? A brand new car!
3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else? A new car for my hubby, ours are both antiques.
4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom? Yes, to animal charities and the women's shelter.
5. Do you invest any? If so, how? I know little to nothing about investing, real estate is probably the best investment here in Houston but I don't know that I'd want to deal with anything that complicated (or expensive). I'd probably just set up the balance (left after my mammoth shopping spree) in an account that would collect interest and live off of that and relax. Unfortunately in today's world, a million dollars isn't what it used to be :-(
At this moment, what is your favorite...
1. ...song? Not my favorite, but "Material Girl" by Madonna is stuck in my head...
2. ...food? My husband got a huge box of Wolferman's English Muffins in the mail for his birthday from my parents yesterday and we've been devouring them like crazy.
3. ...tv show? I'd have to say The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is holding my attention more than anything else right now. Of course with everything that's going on, it's hard not to watch.
4. ...scent? Origins Lavender Vanilla bath stuff
5. ...quote? Speaking of politics, I'm stuck on a quote by Benjamin Franklin. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Addendum - 2/5: OK, I just said I love Jon Stewart's show. What I want to know is - What did Houston do to piss him off? I was watching Monday night and he's talking about the Superbowl, thankfully over now but great game, and he said, not once, but twice, that now Houston will go from being the center of the universe back to the shithole it is. Did he have a bad trip I'm wondering? We're not a particularly scenic town, but actually a pretty nice place to live. Did a redneck throw a beer bottle at him during an early stand-up tour? I'm really curious. I'll still watch his show, though, it's my favorite fake news program ;-)
1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails? I don't use one anymore, but if I did it would be "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be? Nah, I didn't do that stuff...
3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say? I actually had two cars with vanity plates back in the 80's. My first car, a '79 Camaro had my last name on it (maiden) because it was very unusual, but I'd never do that again. I ordered vanity plates for a green 1973 Corvette I owned, but my idiot ex husband totalled the car (note the word ex) before I could get them on the car. They said "ban-she" (i.e. Banshee, we're only allowed 6 letters in Texas). I still have the plates, wish I still had the car :-(
4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say? Not really, just a plaque from my best friend in high school that has a rose and something about Capricorns I believe, I've still got it also.
5. What would you like your epitaph to be? "She saved the world... a lot". No, just kidding, I'm not Buffy ;-) Probably "She lived her life with integrity". Speaking of epitaphs, read the messages following this one...
It was last Saturday but I've been so swamped...
Sparky got me a new purse and my family got me my favorite gift (money :-)
I think I'll do last week's Friday Five in retrospect for January 2nd, it would make sense...
What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .
1. ...today? Well, on 1/2 we went out to eat with a good friend and had fabulous fajitas.
2. ...over the next week? The next several days we went out and ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant the night of my birthday. And on Sunday we had brunch at a ritzy place to celebrate mine & my mother-in-law's birthday. Monday I got my new printer. Hopefully by Friday I'll have my new "real" glasses and can see halfway decent again. I bought two pairs from Sam's (not bad, about $300 for both pairs), one for driving and one for reading, and got them both with the glare-free coating so I'm very hyped. I had RK surgery years ago and glare is a huge problem now.
3. ...this year? Hopefully making my eBay stores self-sufficient so I won't be dependant on selling things for other people. I do both now, but it would be nice not to have to split my sales with anyone...
4. ...over the next five years? Pretty much the same thing, also improving my health, hopefully getting a new car.
5. ...for the rest of your life? Would like to never have to go back to a 9-5 job and someday just be able to do whatever I wanted (i.e., be lazy and be able to read and have fun instead of working 24/7).
Also had to renew my driver's license on 1/2, got the vision restriction put back on because I couldn't read their tiny little glary machine :-( Oh well, I've had a good 13 or 14 years without it.
Iím late! The 26th was my dadís birthday and mine is this Saturday. My brotherís is Thursday, my mother-in-lawís is Sunday, busy week...
1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year? Personally, adopting the sweetest (and strangest) cat in the world. Business wise, probably managing to increase the volume of my own personal stuff I sell on eBay and having to depend less on selling things for others on commission.
2. What was your biggest disappointment? That my health has declined and my weight has not. I had really meant to work on both in 2003, but I never seemed to get around to it.
3. What do you hope the new year brings? World peace, a Democratic president... a better economy, and peace and harmony in my own house.
4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be? I hate making resolutions... letís call them goals. Schedule my work day to be more structured so I can take more time for myself and relax some and not work non-stop the entire time Iím awake every day. And to become more financially independent at the same time ;-) Go to bed earlier (before dawn). Also to spend more time on my various websites and keep them updated better.
5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve? Stay at home, probably watch some of my stacks of Charmed and Angel episodes Iím behind on, crack open the bottle of alcoholic eggnog I didnít drink at Christmas.
1. List your five favorite beverages. Evian, iced & hot tea, Tazo Green Iced Tea, Fonseca 10 year old Port, Vanilla Soymilk (original Coca-Cola should really be in there too)
2. List your five favorite websites. The five I use the most are eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon.com and my own. That sounds boring, but I don't get much surfing time.
3. List your five favorite snack foods. I'm on a weird kick right now, I'm obsessed with J&J Rice Pudding, and hummus with pita bread. I like fairly plain crackers (Stoned Wheat Thins, or Wheatables), in the middle of the night I like an Atkins shake or Slimfast (I know, those are beverages). When I can get good ones, I love big soft pretzels with the big white salt. I like cereal as a snack too at night. (I'm a sweets freak too, but I'm trying to stay away right now)
4. List your five favorite board and/or card games. I never play board games anymore, but they would be chess, backgammon, poker, blackjack and if you can count it, dominoes.
5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games. I have a Mac and no game system so all my stuff is woefully out of date. Can I include arcade games? All time favorite is Galaga, Shanghai/Mah Jong, Tetris, Solitaire and probably Monkey Shines.
1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays? I live in Houston, it snows here once or maybe twice a decade and just enough to cause havoc on the roads. I hate cold weather, I'd never leave the house if it snowed all the time :-(
2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect? Just with my husband and family, at my family home, nice and casual. I don't like traveling during the holidays.
3. Do you do have any holiday traditions? We used to open a few gifts Christmas Eve and then the rest Christmas morning. Now we alternate Christmas Eve's with my in-laws, and usually end up spending Christmas day at my parents and eating lunch. My dad always used to get a big deli tray and we'd have sandwiches on Christmas Day to make it easy on my mom.
4. Do you do anything to help the needy? I'll go through my clothing a couple of times a year and donate it, that's about it I'm afraid.
5. What one gift would you like for yourself? Other than a new car ;-) Umm, let's see... a Democrat in the White House? Every year my husband basically asks me what I want (within reason) and then usually gives me his credit card (he's not good about picking gifts). This year I'm getting a new CD rack I've been wanting for ages that holds 800 so I can clear off the rest of the furniture around my stereo. And he's considering getting me a new purse, mine's worn out.
No Friday Five this week, so I thought I'd bore you with some of the quizzes I've done recently...
No brainer... Which Addams Family character are you?
You are Bella, the Romantic Goth! You would love to live in the time of Byron and Shelley. People probably call you Elvira or Morticia. But you are above them, those poor foolish mortals.
Where Are You on the Gothic Colour Spectrum?
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Which Personality Disorder Do You Have?
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You are every goth-kids dream!
Which Ultimate Beautiful Woman are You?
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Destiny, you are the oldest of The Endless, you are
eternally chained to a book that holds the
secrets of the universe. You are all business,
never have time to even crack a smile, and
always make sure you do not draw too much
attention. You do not want people hunting after
you!
Which Endless are you?
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No pretty pictures but eerily accurate for such a simple test ... Color Quiz
Your Existing Situation
Imaginative and sensitive; seeking an outlet for these qualities--especially in the company of someone equally sensitive. Interest and enthusiasm are readily aroused by the unusual or the adventurous.
Your Stress Sources
Feels that life has far more to offer and that there are still important things to be achieved--that life must be experienced to the fullest. As a result, she pursues her objectives with a fierce intensity that will not let go of things. Becomes deeply involved and runs the risk of being unable to view things with sufficient objectivity, or calmly enough; is therefore in danger of becoming agitated and of exhausting her nervous energy. Cannot leave things alone and feels she can only be at peace when she has finally reached her goal.
Your Restrained Characteristics
The situation is preventing her from establishing herself, but she feels she must make the best of things as they are.
Circumstances are restrictive and hampering, forcing her to forgo all joys and pleasures for the time being.
Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity.
Your Desired Objective
Desires a tranquil, peaceful state of harmony offering quiet contentment and a sense of belonging.
Your Actual Problem
Needs to achieve a stable and peaceful condition, enabling her to free herself of the worry that she may be prevented from achieving all the things she wants.
1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not? I like to shop on my own terms, when I want to and not when everyone and their dog is in a panicked frenzy (um, like from now till January). I like to shop when I don't have to worry about every dime I spend, especially as I have to now because I have no credit cards anymore (whole different story). I don't like being guilted by the media to shop or buy cards for made-up holidays. And I HATE crowds, I used to be on the other end of the cash register and it's not exciting to me, just stressful. On the other hand, I'm very efficient at shopping, I could buy a whole wardrobe in one trip if I had to. I've gotten real decisive over the years about what I like and don't like.
2. What was the last thing you purchased? Other than necessities, a watch from eBay, just got it, have to take it in to be resized (of course, I have tiny wrists). It was a good deal and has hands and numbers big enough I can rad it without my glasses.
3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why? I like both. I like the real store concept because I'm hard to fit, I can actually see and feel the quality of the merchandise, the correct color, etc. I love to shop online for things I already know will fit me (like Land End tees & nighties) and things I don't have to worry about (like books and music).
4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it? I did, I honestly don't remember but it was fair for the era. Enough to buy some comics, candy and Slim Jims with each week.
5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing? A three pack of fruitcakes at Sam's Club. I don't need to be eating fruitcake, even though it's one of my favorite things, and this is a brand I've never tried and I'm really picky about my fruitcakes. And I'm the only one in the house who will eat it, so I think it's going to go back to the store.
1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space. Overflowing
2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer. Perfectionist, frustrating
3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pasttime. Challenging, endless, technical
4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day. Non-stop, hectic, unhealthy, nocturnal
5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life. Comfortable, healthy, wealthy, contented, peaceful
Our house is organized but stuffed full of mine and my husbandís various collections.
Iím self-employed, though most of the work I do is on eBay, which can be a PITA.
I love learning new things on the computer, designing websites, etc.
Working at home means I pretty much work from the time I get up to the time I go to bed (itís almost 5 am and I still have stuff to do, but I had to take a short break to do this ;-) Iím also chronically ill, which is why I work at home.
Iíd love to be able to do nothing but what I wanted for the rest of my life, I actually wouldnít get bored, Iím very good at amusing myself.
1. What food do you like that most people hate? Fruitcake! And eggnog too :-)
2. What food do you hate that most people love? Probably a bunch, bell peppers, pickles, celery, avocados...
3. What famous person, whom many people may find attractive, is most unappealing to you? Before the scandal I probably would have said Martha Stewart, but now everyone seems to dislike her too. (She always annoyed me) Iím not a celeb follower, probably Britney Spears?
4. What famous person, whom many people may find unappealing, do you find attractive? Honestly, I canít think of anyone.
5. What popular trend baffles you? Why people feel the need to be on the phone 24/7. If they knew how insane they looked walking through a supermarker seemingly talking to themselves they wouldnít do it... no, they probably would. I think I was the last person to get a cell phone, I never wanted a pager, I donít want people to be able to find me, thank you. I only got one because they had a killer deal where I worked at the time and I used to drive a lot and donít have a particularly reliable car. Iíve used my cell phone many times to call wreckers. The one time I broke down on the freeway (on an overpass, yet) the damned thing kept cutting out on me.
Postdated entry, I'm way behind this week but couldn't pass up questions on my favorite holiday...
1. What was your first Halloween costume? I was a gypsy (before I could even walk!), my mom said she put some of her dangly earrings on me and they dressed me up and my dad carried me from door to door.
2. What was your best costume and why? Oh gosh, even when I was a kid I tended to stick to the gothic genre so most of my costumes have been really similar (long, black...). I didn’t really go in for the Ben Cooper costumes, I’ve always hated wearing masks. I did a lot of gypsies, witches and vampires growing up, and still do. I did a semi-official Elvira a few years ago that turned out really well. I found this super-sexy long velvet dress with a sheer inset in front and a self choker, and bought an actual Elvira beehive wig and went nuts on the makeup. I know that’s my husband’s favorite costume ;-)
3. Did you ever play a trick on someone who didn't give you a treat? No, we were good kids in 60’s white suburbia.
4. Do you have any Halloween traditions? (ie: Family pumpkin carving, special dinner before trick or treating, etc.) We’d carve a pumpkin every year, one year I tried to cook the seeds (not advised). My dad would get home from work, scarf down a sandwich and take us out because it was always dark by then.
5. Share your favorite scary story...real or legend! Not Halloween related, but the story that scared me the most growing up was a story I read in Reader’s Digest about a girl who was kidnapped and buried alive in a box with tubes for air. It was a true story and there were even illustrations... shudder. I think that’s when my claustrophobia began.
Late but too much fun not to do :-)
1. Name five things in your refrigerator. It's pretty empty right now... Atkins shakes, pre-grated Parmesan cheese, 2 boxes of breadsticks that expired in May (yuck), Coke and Grenadine (to make Cherry Cokes).
2. Name five things in your freezer. Frozen English Muffins, a six pound bag of meatballs (we go to Sam's Club), a big bag of pre-cooked chicken breasts, frozen bananas (for shakes), an entire frozen cooked chicken (which needs to be tossed I'm afraid).
3. Name five things under your kitchen sink. Swiffer cloths, Windex, cat shampoo, canned air for dusting, and two really old bottles of black Rit Dye (not sure why).
4. Name five things around your computer. Other than Mac peripherals... Two fifities TV lamps, a digital scale, a phone & headset, a gold Lucky Cat (and lots more little cats), a 3D wall hanging of Elvira.
5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet. I don't actually had a medicine cabinet, though I have meds scattered all over the house. In my bathroom cabinets: too many hair care items to list, too many skin care things to list, a little basket I keep all my hair dye stuff in, some of those disenfectant towels for cleaning, half a dozen different varieties of bath gels, boxes of handiwipes... Weird stuff: a bottle of garlic oil for earaches, a wig care kit, prescription dental mouthwash, pet first aid wipes. In my kitchen med cabinet: Tagamet, generic antihistamine, Imodium, Tylenol, Tums (my husband's stuff mostly). In my personal bedroom stash... I'm not even going there...
These are quick and easy...
1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones? Sort of, kind of. I grew up going to football & baseball games with my family (Go Astros! Go Cougars! Go... opes, gone, Oilers). I can still sit and watch sports on TV, but I'm not a big TV watcher anyway. If I could pick stuff to watch I like to watch woman's gymnastics, horse racing, and bodybuilding.
2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes? I don't follow it enough to have any.
3. Are there any sports you hate? Dodge ball! Actually I dislike watching basketball, tennis and golf, they bore me to tears.
4. Have you ever been to a sports event? Many times. Baseball, football, motocross, the rodeo, horse races, American Gladiators ;-)
5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play? The only thing I excelled at in school was ping pong, I was the girls champ. I wasn't big on the extra-curricular stuff, I wanted to go home when school was over. I was pretty good at rollerskating, I used to win speed skating contest sometimes. I also competed a little in English dressage and jumping, I loved to ride horses. And I was an amateur bodybuilder in my 20's (no competitions, I don't get along with tans of binikis).
Well there were no questions last week, and I missed the week before, but I'm a car nut so I've got to answer these :-)
1. What vehicle do you drive? A 91 Olds Cutlass. I'm embarrassed to say my parents bought it for me as a present and I had no choice in the matter. I do appreciate it, but I'm a sports car freak. I've owned: a 79 Camaro, a 1970 something (76?) Firebird with a 400 hp engine, a 96 Camaro, a 1980 something Mustang, a 78 Datsun 280Z, and best of all, a 1973 Corvette. I also had an 86 Suzuki Intruder motorcycle, so I'm more than a little embarrassed to be driving this one.
2. How long have you had it? Since it was new... 12 years?
3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle? It's black.
4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle? It's a piece of crap mechanically. It had a lemon engine and I've replaced the transmission twice and I still haven't turned the odometer over. It's really sad.
5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now? Now that you ask, actually I've been researching cars lately. My practical choice would be a V6 Toyota Camry Solara. Black with grey interior. It's a coupe, will probably run the rest of my life, it has a perky engine and room enough to haul people and big things like my packing supplies. And it's got all the comfy extras. My "wishlist" not as practical choice would be a Toyota Celica, still a reliable car but lots more sporty (but smaller). I've made a pledge not to buy another American made car, I've spent enough to buy several cars repairing the one I have now.
Fantasy world car? Hmmm.. a brand new or really cherry old Corvette, another 73 would be fabulous. I really love old sports cars, but I'm at the age now that for every day driving things like good air conditioning and shock absorbers have become more important than they used to. And electric windows, keyless remotes, fun things like that. And knowing the car's going to start when I ask it to. A cell phone and a gun will only get you so far...
1. Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate? If not, what's changed? Techincally yes, I've been married twice but I've never changed my last name legally, though I go by both names. It's all very confusing. Also I was adopted, but it was at birth, si I'm assuming I wasn't given another name...
2. If you could change your name (first, middle and/or last), what would it be? There are lots of names I'd choose, I've always wanted to be a Samantha, or Cassandra of something more interesting and cooler than Rebecca. My middle name is Susan, so the field is wide open there. For a last name I always wanted Collins because of Dark Shadows ;-)
3. Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?) My parents gave both me and my brother standard biblical names, though my brother got my dad's name as a middle name. I'm told my name means enchantress lily. The lily part is cool.
4. Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why? I love traditional Irish names (I'm Irish), Siobhan, Sinead, Paige, etc. If I ever would have had a child I would have named her Samantha, though it seems all my friends are using that name, so there will be a lot of Sams in the class of 2016 or so. I dislike silly girly names, like Tiffany or Crystal, or any name that was once a liquor or perfume.
5. Is the analysis of your name at kabalarians.com / triggur.org / astroexpert accurate? How or how isn't it? Ok, astroexpert's analysis makes no frigging sense at all to me. The only thing on triggur.org that wasn't offensive and made sense was "Emotional - Rebecca is a quiet loner". Kabalarians.com was more interesting. Not completely true, I'm not that friendly though I can appear to be when needed. The best line from their analysis is "When asked, you are able to give others good advice that you would probably not follow yourself". That's me in a nutshell, I'm an amateur psychotherapist and the one people always come to for advice. It also nailed half of my health problems "headaches, eye, teeth, or severe sinus conditions", though the other half was inaccurate and it missed my major ones completely...
However, I just put my diminuative name, which I go by normally, Becky, into their site and it gave me a much more accurate description. I'm "positive, self-assertive, and independent" and "creative, inventive, and ingenious in practical matters, such as handicrafts", which are true though I'm not nearly as optimistic as I was when I was younger. I "have many bitter experiences and generally rather unsettled conditions in your life, with little progress and financial accumulation", which is dead on. Also true "You cannot tolerate any domination by others, or circumstances that restrict your freedom and independence. You are inclined to make changes abruptly in your life as an escape from such conditions", I've had many jobs and moved over a dozen times in my life. I'm not a rude or argumentative type, but as the older I get the more I tell people exactly what I think, so this is true "When annoyed or offended, you can be very candid and sarcastic in your speech. Many disruptions in friendship and association have thus resulted. Verbal expression is difficult for you, and you can be forthright in situations requiring delicacy, even though it is not your intention to be." Very interesting...
Actually, my mom has always had a maid and she always drove me nuts in the summer because she'd come in while I was still asleep and want to rip the sheets off the bed to wash. My mom still "cleans the house" before the maid comes. I think I'm actually too much of a control freak to let someone else handle and dust all my collectibles, I'd like to just be able to wiggle my nose and have everything just magically "be clean".
1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most? Dusting, it's never ending and it kills my allergies for days. Don't really like washing dishes, hubby usually does that. I don't like to make the bed properly, I like to throw the comforter up over the pillows so it's easier to unmake at night, but my husband likes to make it military style every day. I don't like picking up or taking out the trash.
2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing? I love sorting and filing things, but I'm OCD. I don't mind doing the laundry, I can't fold worth a damn, though, so hubby usually does the towels. I don't mind putting the dishes up from the dishwasher (more OCD I 'm guessing). Oddly enough, I don't mind cleaning the cat box (I love my kitty!!), I just don't like sweeping the floor afterwards. Even stranger, I've gotten where I don't mind cleaning the toilet, though I use those disposable gloves and wipes when I do.
3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed? With keeping things straight I try and do that daily so junk doesn't pile up. We do the dishes after every meal, my husband vacuums fanatically, when the hamper gets full we do laundry (before we run out of everything). I clean the toilet and vanitory before guests come over which seems to be about every week, or whenever I see anything gross starting to grow in the toilet. Dusting is an as needed thing, though I take a swipe at things whenever I have a cloth handy just to get the surface layers off. We only do windows at Halloween so we can put the decorations up (the house also gets a good cleaning for our annual Halloween party).
4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules? I don't know, I rarely to use anything that has really strong chemicals (for mine and my cat's health). I won't use anything with bleach or ammonia, I'd rather scrub. I'll use baking soda instead for bathroom cleaning. I like to put the dishes straight into the dishwasher and my husband would rather hand wash them and perch them precariously on the counter to dry. I don't like to be around when he's vacuuming because of my allergies (and the noise).
5. What was the last thing you cleaned? The dishes ironically from tonight's dinner. And a load of laundry last night.
Not real relevant (I'm 41) but what the heck. Down memory lane...
1. Are you going to school this year?No
2. If yes, where are you going (high school, college, etc.)? If no, when did you graduate? High school class of 1980, about a year and a half of college.
3. What are/were your favorite school subjects? I liked foreign languages, art, English. I even liked math till I got into college. Love psychology. Liked political science in college.
4. What are/were your least favorite school subjects? Hated science, not real good at grade school history though it was interesting (I can't remember dates & names). Hated gym in school (two words - dodge ball), though in my senior year we got to play table tennis (girl's school champ!). In college I got to take pistol marksmanship and tae kwando (sp?) so that made it more fun. In college calculus blew my little kitty mind, it was a required course for my attempt at a computer science major, failed it three times. Computer science in the early 80's would make your head explode, it was all punch cards and such. After failing calculus and crashing the gigantic mainframe at U of H several times with my attempts at programming, I changed majors.
5. Have you ever had a favorite teacher? Why was he/she a favorite? All time favorite was my high school German teacher, Mr. Gwen (Gwyn?). He made class interesting and fun, took us on outings to see movies in German. He was an all-around nice guy, way ahead of his time for 1979.
1. When was the last time you laughed? Probably at my cat, who constantly amazes me. We call her a circus cat because she does little tricks and is an acrobat.
2. Who was the last person you had an argument with? That would be my husband. Don't remember what the last one was about...
3. Who was the last person you emailed? My friend Bruce in Austin, we're politely debating politics from opposite poles.
4. When was the last time you bathed? Ummm... let's see, I wash my hair every other night (I work at home in the AC), so Wednesday night (actually early Thursday am before bed).
5. What was the last thing you ate? English muffins with butter and apricot and blackberry jam. With some Arizona Green Ice Tea.
I missed last week's Friday Five, but it was all about traveling, which we haven't done much of in years... However, this week's questions are quite relevant to my world :-)
1. How much time do you spend online each day? On my computer itself, actually most of my waking day. I almost always have my email program, spamfilter and browser open most of the time I have the computer on. Hmmm... I was going to put in links for MS Entourage and Mac IE but microsoft.com is not responding, I wonder if they're on the east coast and part of the power outage. Ironically I noticed Texas is the only state with it's own separate power grid.
2. What is your browser homepage set to? To my eBay "All" page, for my main webstore Morticia's Morgue Collectibles (which requires a password, sorry!). If I'm signed in under my other user ID it goes to my postcard store, Enigma Arts Vintage Postcards.
3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)? I think I have some form of AIM installed (some Apple version) but I really dislike instant messaging. It's kind of like having the phone ringing all the time to me. I don't even have my email set to check automatically, I prefer to do it manually.
4. Where was your first webpage located? On my "free" Earthlink page, then I registered my own domain and used a really crappy hosting company for a year or so, then I found a really great one and have been using them ever since. In a few weeks Morticia's Morgue will be on the web for six years. My husband and I have purchased several other domains since then, one for his business, one for this weblog, and one for my cat (which I'm just beginning to finally start working on). And then I have two homepages on eBay to maintain also...
5. How long have you had your current website? Almost six years for my main website and this weblog will be almost a year, I think I began it last September.
First, let me say that I've worked at home for the last several years so I'm up all night, so please don't hate me. I've never ever been a morning person (I was even born at like 4:15 am), luckily now I can set my own schedule. I also don't sleep worth a damn because of health reasons.
1. What time do you wake up on weekday mornings? Ummm.. usually mid afternoon, around 2 or 3 pm.
2. Do you sleep in on the weekends? How late? Same.
3. Aside from waking up, what is the first thing you do in the morning? Wakeup routine - take my meds, brush my hair, eat something, brush my teeth, wash my face and get dressed. When the weather's a bit cooler I have Earl Grey tea with sugar and real cream.
4. How long does it take to get ready for your day? Being a chronic oversleeper, even when I was doing the 9-5, I can get dressed and out of the house as quick as about 20-25 minutes. I don't like to, though. I prefer at least an hour to get my head together before I sit down to work, or go out and run errands.
5. When possible, what is your favorite place to go for breakfast? My all time favorite breakfast is Chinese Dim Sum. I have to get up around 11 or 12 to be able to go, they stop serving by 3 pm most places, but it's just fabulous! You get to sit at your table while they wheel carts of exotic food past you and you just point and tell them which ones you want. My favorites are sticky rice, sweet yellow bean steamed rolls, pork sui mai dumplings, sesame seed balls with sweet lotus bean, steamed buns with bbq pork, steamed shrimp dumplings...mmmm...
1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be? Wow, probably "Enigma Girl" because I'm so weird. I was going to get that on a license plate once.
2. What songs would be on the soundtrack? The hyper 80's dance track would have Bowie & Queen's "Under Pressure", "No More Words" Berlin, "Cars" Gary Numan, "Dance Along the Edge" Concrete Blonde. "One Way or Another" Blondie, "It Ain't None of Your Business" and "Mental Hopscotch" from Missing Persons, Lene Lovich "New Toy", Nina Hagen "So Bad". The dreamy orchestral score would have Alan Parsons "To One in Paradise" and "Fall of the House of Usher", Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". From Suzanne Vega the remix of "Tom's Diner", "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" and "Solitude Standing". Got to have some jazz too, Vince Guaraldi's "Linus & Lucy" and "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", Nina Simone with "Wild Is the Wind" and "See-Line Woman", Miles Davis "Autumn Leaves" And for nostalgia's sake, Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind".
[More soundtrack additions - "Destroyer (Paranoia)" The Kinks, "Surrender" Cheap Trick, "99 Luftballons" Nena, "Vienna" Ultravox, "Destination Unknown" and "Words" Missing Persons, "53 Miles West of Venus", "Topaz" and "Roam" the B52's; "Come On Eileen" Dexy's Midnight Runners, "My Way" Nina Hagen, "Shake It Up" The Cars, "Welcome to My Nightmare" and "Only Women Bleed" by Alice Cooper]
3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why? Live action, don't really care for animation...
4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc? Reality wise? Janeane Garofolo for me, Tom Arnold for my husband, Laura Dern for my best friend... my family, my mom always reminded me of Joan Bennett, my dad is sort of a cross between George C. Scott and maybe Spencer Tracy, my brother would be Ozzy Osbourne (he actually looked just like him when he was younger).
5. Describe the movie preview/trailer. "She careened through her life at the speed of light, she faced danger on a daily basis and called it a job. She wandered the night alone, just a girl and her gun. She dated bad boys and drove fast cars, learned and lost a lot on the way but never regretted the trip. Now she's in love for real and settled down but the story is just beginning..."
I don't like these questions this week... but I'm so wired from the damned steroids I'm in the mood to ramble and type... One of my lifetime ethics codes has always to be straight-up honest with people, sometimes at a detriment to myself, but I have an over-active conscience, I'm not even religious, I think my dad ground it into me, he's the same way. We're both always worrying someone misintepreting things we said, it's hard to curb the need to overexplain things sometimes...
1. When was the last time you cheated? I do everything the hard way, unfortunately. I've never cheated on anyone in a relationship, and I never cheated in school. I'm not sure if the fear of getting caught was worse than the moral implications...
2. When was the last time you stole? I had the bejeezus scared out of me in elementary school when I was in a local five & dime store and a friend of mine stole something and they grabbed both of us. Our parents had to come get us, if I ever had a thought of stealing after that, the shame of that incident cured me. I've always been one of those idiots who tells sales clerks when they give me too much change back, etc. Maybe because I've been a cashier, maybe because I know it will come back and bite me kharmically. I also worked as a security officer and store detective for years...
3. When was the last time you lied? My career goal in my 20's was to be a police officer, so I'm pretty boring. Come to think of it, though, I did lie about my vision in the applications because I was so desperate to get in. You were supposed to be like 20/30 max and I wore contacts but they were super thin and couldn't be seen. I would have failed the medical physical eventually (got them corrected later with RK), but that does count. I'm a bad liar to people who are close to me, I'm more of an "omission" type person. Like I "omitted" telling my husband I had two credit cards instead of one, and his pet peeve is being lied to, so now he's calling me a liar, which just crushes my self worth, because one of my guides in judging myself and others is honesty. The older I get, the more brutally honest I'm actually becoming. Not in a cruel way, but I think there are enough lies floating around out there that people need to hear the truth more to stay grounded in reality (don't get me started on politics).
4. When was the last time you broke or vandalized another's property? I'm terrified of breaking things, even my own things. Probably like 15 years ago when I backed my ex-husbands giant old car into the brick flower beds at my apartments. Didn't scratch the car, though.
5. When was the last time you hurt a loved one? My husband with the credit card "omission" fiasco. And the sad thing was I wasn't running around just blowing money, the economy tanked so bad after 9/11 I was just trying to keep up financially and the whole thing made sense in my mind. But he's terribly hurt and thinking I did it personally against him.
I'm behind, so here's the last two weeks Q&A:
Jul 11, 2003
1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it? Iím told my first best friend was a little boy named Douglas, who I called Guggas. I seem to recall getting into trouble with him for being out after dark one evening. In elementary, my best friend was the neighbor behind me, Anita Shaw, who was bold and adventurous and seemed much tougher than me. Unfortunately, when we changed to junior high level, the line splitting schools was literally our fence line and we were split up. My best friend for junior high was a very cool young gay man named Byron Bozeman. He was one of the smartest people Iíd ever met and he actually had big aspirations for his future. Then HISD split us up again for high school and my best friend was a young Lebanese immigrant named Fadi Salha. He spoke a little English and I spoke a little French, but he learned English much faster than I learned French. He was the only person in school who could beat me at pinig-pong.
2. Are you still in touch with this person? Because of a bad first marriage and moving around the state, Iíve lost touch with most of my early friends, even though I live in the same neighborhood I grew up in now. My parents are more in touch with them than I am, because most of the families still live there too.
3. Do you have a current close friend? My best friend is my friend Mary who I met soon after I moved back to Houston, and then a few years ago she moved back home to New Orleans. So we talk long distance and she travels back and forth a lot, occasionally Iíll get to make it to NOLA also.
4. How did you become friends with this person? She was at a regular party that my husband (then boyfriend) and a friend of his were hosting. She was dating an old friend of theirs (sheís traded up since then) and we both hit it off with our common interest in Anne Rice and spooky things in general. Sheís like 8 years younger than me, most of my friends have always been older or my own age, but sheís very mature. Sheís the youngest child in a family of boys (who are my age) so a lot of their interests rubbed off on her.
5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why? I looked up Anita, sheís living back in Montana with a brood of kids and animals and she and her husband are in law enforcement, which is really cool. Iíve heard Fadi is a dentist, still living in town and doing well. Iíd love to find out how Byron is doing, last I heard he was living in an old restored house and he and his partner were doing some sort of landscape design.
For July 4th Questions click the READ MORE link below...
July 4th
1. What were your favorite childhood stories? Ummm, trying to think back that farÖ My favorite early books were ìA Childís Garden of Versesî, ìSam, Bangs and Moonshineî, ìThe Velveteen Rabbitî. Anything with witches or cats in itÖ A little older I was obsessed with Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Hitchockís The Three Investigators, Black Beauty.
2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with [your] children? Not planning on having any, but if I did they would be deluged with books.
3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything? Not really, other than the fact that I colored in some of them.
4. How old were you when you first learned to read? I canít really remember not being able to read, although we didnít have pre-school when I was growing up.
5. Do you remember the first 'grown-up' book you read? How old were you? I think the first was Shirley Jacksonís ìWe Have Always Lived in the Castleî which I found at a neighborhood garage sale and bought for the incredible cover have several that pop into my mind though I canít pin them down on years. A Readerís Digest version of ìJawsî, ìThe Exorcistî, ìCarrieî and ìInterview with the Vampireî was a big breakthrough book for me. I ordered it through one of the many bookclubs I was a member of, I think I even paid for it ;-)
1. How are you planning to spend the summer [winter]? Same old, same old. Stay inside as much as possible during the summer heat. Play with my new kitty, she's Burmese and needs a lot of attention :-)
2. What was your first summer job? As a library assistant, I stayed for about a year but it was my first job at 17. I worked there with two of my best friends and really liked it. They let us check out as many books as we wanted, I think when I left I had over 200 books checked out, some popped up years later (and were surreptitiously returned).
3. If you could go anywhere this summer [winter], where would you go? I'd like to go to New England and drive all over the place, got to Salem, NYC, etc. That, or the UK.
4. What was your worst vacation ever? Ironically enough it's a tie between Disneyland and Disneyworld. We went to California when I was a teenager and for some reason my parents were having the only real 'fight' that I really remember, they never argued in front of us, but I remember everyone was really sort of miserable the entire time. Then my parents and in-laws gave my husband and I a trip to Disneyworld for our honeymoon. I'm not sure why, we really wanted to go to New England. Both of us hated it, we stayed on the grounds so we were basically Disney prisoners, had to eat their overpriced horrible food, the mattresses were hard as rocks so we didn't get any real rest, every ride dumped you into a gift shop. And even though it was early spring, there were tons of kids who should have been in school.
5. What was your best vacation ever? My visits to New Orleans probably rank at the top. We used to visit when I was a kid, which was cool because our parents would let us wander around Bourbon Street, take us into Pat O'Brien's. It's always been my favorite city. The year before I met my husband my parents gave me a trip there by myself, complete with a room at the Monteleone, breakfast at Brennan's, a plantation trip. And best of all I got to wander around all night by myself in the Quarter. Not something I recommend, but it was a lot of fun. I even walked through the bad part of the Quarter up to St. Louis Cemetery and took tons of photos. My husband and I have visited there together lots of times, we were even there to see part of the filming of Interview with the Vampire.
These were fun to answer :-)
1. Is your hair naturally curly, wavy, or straight? Long or short? Itís very wavy and, unfortunately, very fine so it tangles like crazy. When I was a kid I was a tomboy and my dad would have to take scissors and cut the knots out of my hair just like he did with our Cocker Spaniel.
2. How has your hair changed over your lifetime? When I was a baby it was dark auburn then it lightened to blondish, and then finally became a dark brown as a teen. And from high school on Iíve colored it everything from purple, to blue, to lots of shades of red, dark brown and right now blue black. Iíve always worn it long except for a few years in elementary school when I went through my pixie cut phase.
3. How do your normally wear your hair? Long, usually with bangs cut into it, often pulled back with a barrette or elastic band because itís so hot here year round. I try and blow dry it as straight as possible most of the time, I even have a straightening iron.
4. If you could change your hair this minute, what would it look like? It would be very straight, thick and shiny, and naturally black. Iíd have fabulous Bettie Page bangs (and not the horrid Farrah Fawcett ones that my hair likes to do).
5. Ever had a hair disaster? What happened? I dyed it the wrong shade of black back in my twenties and then panicked in the middle of the night and went out and bought a bleach kit which turned it a weird shade of orange, then I had to redye it darker the same night. Sort of a Laura Petrie thing... My hair was fried from the bleaching for like a year.
1. What's one thing you've always wanted to do, but never have? Thatís hard... travel to Europe maybe?
2. When someone asks your opinion about a new haircut/outfit/etc, are you always honest? I am but in a nice way ;-)
3. Have you ever found out something about a friend and then wished you hadn't? What happened? Yes, several times. It almost always puts a strain on our friendship if itís something theyíre embarrassed about (they tend to back off, not me).
4. If you could live in any fictional world (from a book/movie/game/etc.) which would it be and why? Iím reading Christine Feehanís ìDarkî vampire series right now, that wouldnít be a bad world. Her heroes and heroines can transform into animals, control the elements, dissolve into mist, read & control peopleís mind, and best of all, they can clean themselves with a mental command AND make themselves any kind of clothes they want to out of thin air.
5. What's one talent/skill you don't have but always wanted? Too many... to be able to sing in perfect pitch, skate backwards..
1. How many times have you truly been in love? Really, truly? Only once to my husband, though Iíve had several false alarms over the years.
2. What was/is so great about the person you love(d) the most? We clicked the moment we met, it was if weíd literally known each other our entire lives.
3. What qualities should a significant other have? Honesty, monogomy, sense of humor, kindness, intelligence, common sense.
4. Have you ever broken someone's heart? Yes, but not on purpose.
5. If there was one thing you could teach people about love, what would it be? That you canít force it upon someone, it has to click for both of you and when itís real youíll both know it.
These are hard...
1. What do you most want to be remembered for? My honesty and personal integrity I guess... my cool website maybe ;-)
2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life? Treat others the way youíd like to be treated.
3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year? Ugghh, the last year has been a blur of inactivity. Perhaps figuring out how to install and customize Movable Type enough to create this weblog and keep up with it regularly.
4. What about the past ten years? Starting my own business and being able to work at home. Also Iím approaching six years of creating and maintaining my main website, Morticiaís Morgue. All of my computer skills were self taught, Iím very pround of that :-)
5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say? Two things I think... never stop learning new things, and be honest with yourself and others.
1. What brand of toothpaste do you use? Mentadent
2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer? Usually Scott Tissue, occasionally Cottonelle (tends to stop up the toilet, though)
3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear? Faves are Rockport and Ecco (I have flat feet!)
4. What brand of soda do you drink? Donít drink much, but when I do itís Classic Coke, Ginger Ale or Dr. Pepper (if Iím sleepy!)
5. What brand of gum do you chew? Canít chew gum anymore because of my TMJ and numerous crowns and fillings. When I was a kid I went nuts over that Hot Dog gum, but it only tastes good for about 3 or 4 minutes.
1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.? Evian!
2. What are your favourite flavor of chips? Iím not a bit chip eater. We had a party a few weeks ago and had some Layís Chicago Steakhouse Loaded Baked Potato chips that rocked.
3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most? I love my own Fettucini Alfredo, I do a good lemon chicken breast also. I think my favorite splurge to cook is �Bananas Foster, though I donít light them on fire and most of the time I use heavy cream instead of ice cream. I donít really cook too many things that require more than a few ingredients. We have a George Foreman grill and I can make steaks without setting off the smoke alarms, which is cool.
4. How do you have your eggs? I like them scrambled or hard-boiled, though when I was a kid the only way Iíd touch them was sunnyside up. Now Iím allergic, though...
5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out? My husbandís mother, she made her own motherís day dinner last weekend (long story), it was great. Boiled shrimp, green beans and potato salad, we ate like pigs ;-)
I love this weekís questions! Iím a major obsessive compulsive organizer, check out this post from January, Obsession & Organizing, for lots of organizing info and links.
1. Would you consider yourself an organized person? Why or why not? Yes! Itís a constant battle to keep some sort of order, but the minute I stop trying I know Iíll be completely lost. It drives me insane to not be able to find something. I'm one of those people who has always been surrounded by piles of stuff, tons of little slips of paper and just excessive stuff in general.
2. Do you keep some type of planner, organizer, calendar, etc. with you, and do you use it regularly? I have a really nice Dayrunner organizer thatís stuffed so full the pages sometimes tear when I turn them, I try really hard to use it. I have a tiny little purse-size organizer also that I carry with me. I like to write things down, I donít think Iíd do well with a PDA... I'm one of those people who goes psycho in an office supply store or somewhere like The Container Store.
3. Would you say that your desk is organized right now? Actually, today itís in very good shape, check out the pic above. I canít help but end up with piles, but I try and keep them sorted and go through them every week or so. I end up with tons of little receipts and things that I literally stuff into a big legal envelope and then go through it every few months. That way at least if I need a receipt of something I can find it.
4. Do you alphabetize CDs, books, and DVDs, or does it not matter? Yes, Iím dying to get a larger CD rack that will hold everything and one that doesnít have individual slots so when I buy a new CD I donít need move 40 CDs to keep them in order. My books are grouped by type, and then sorted by author. Theyíre not ALL alphabetical, but they are in some sort of order so I donít go nuts (I have a lot of books). My first job at 17 was as a library assistant shelving books in the childrenís section (the kids were fine, the parents were slobs, though!). I still pull things out when Iím at a book store and theyíre in the wrong place, etc.
Here are some of my double and triple stacked bookcases.
5. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to organize? The library was hard to keep up (try putting things in order when the reference numbers are like 679.23459a). I think the biggest onetime challenge I ever faced was the first day on the last job I worked (as a retail clerical) when I was handed literally about half a dozen huge boxes of assorted reports and paperwork an told to sort and file it all. The biggest problem was I was not at all familiar with any of them, they all looked similar, had similar (mostly numerical) names, and I didnít have any clue which ones were important and which were garbage. The woman I was replacing had been there for 30 years, had her own system, and I only had three days to train with her. If youíve ever worked in retail, you know the buying office is a nightmare to keep organized.
On a personal level, I think trying to weed through like seven years of mine and my husbandís accumulated junk before we moved into our own house to decide what to keep and what to toss. Weíre both ìcollectorsî and we still have way too much stuff, but at least now itís semi-organized ;-)
ADDENDUM - I was just reading someone else's Friday Five and it brought back a memory of the really hardest thing I ever had to organize. I was volunteering at a Jaycee's Haunted House in Austin years ago and ended up having the whole thing dumped in my lap when the girl who was a Jaycee that was running it quit. It was all teenagers and yuppie volunteers and had a budget of zero. The teens actually were the only semi-reliable ones and would actually usually follow instructions. The adults wouldn't stay in their places, kept getting drunk and all wanted to be tour guides or sell tickets {sigh}. That was the worst organizing nightmare, I think I had blocked it out mentally...
Reallllly late this week, but too good to pass up
1. Name one song you hate to admit you like. Christina Aguilera �Beautiful�
2. Name two songs that always make you cry. I usually only cry at live performances.
3. Name three songs that turn you on. I�m not sure if they really turn me on, but:
Tori Amos �Liquid Diamonds�
Chaka Khan �I Feel For You�
Sheila E. �Glamorous Life�
4. Name four songs that always make you feel good.
Bowie & Queen �Pressure�
Blondie �One Way or Another�
Burt Bacharach �Bond Street�
Echo & the Bunnymen �Lips Like Sugar�
5. Name five songs you couldn't ever do without.
Wings �Maybe I�m Amazed�
Elton John �Funeral for a Friend�
Alice Cooper �Only Women Bleed�
Lesley Gore �California Nights�
Alan Parsons Project �To One in Paradise�
From Melissa at Anything but Ordinary�s �Music Meme� list which I couldn�t resist:
3 most diametrically opposed songs on my (current, everchanging) playlist
Jack Off Jill �Cumdumpster�
�Theme from Xanadu� by Olivia Newton-John
Nina Hagen �Springtime in Paris�
2 songs you wouldn�t guess I would have
The Archies �Justine� on vinyl
Mireille Mathieu �Hinter den Kulissen von Paris�
And kadyellebee�s cool addition which is funny because I was just thinking about this the other day
Good FAST driving songs
The last time I got a ticket I was listening to �Sky Pilot�
Guns n� Roses �Coma�
Meatloaf �Paradise by the Dashboard Light�
Aerosmith �Livin� On the Edge�
The B-52�s �Love Shack�
Garbage �Cherry Lips�
and Bitweever already nailed two of the best, �Radar Love� by Golden Earring and �Freebird� by Lynyrd Skynyrd
OK, that qualifies as a weird selection, you�ve got to agree...
Geez the weeks are passing fast, I can't believe it's Friday again... at least I'm on time with this one...
1. What was the last TV show you watched? The Primetime interview with the Dixie Chicks... and part of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Friends and Will & Grace were fun, I watched a lot more TV than usual tonight.
2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem? Probably about all the idiot rednecks protesting the Dixie Chicks, the whole right wing hate machine in general.
3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say? Probably the lady who runs the Box Store for being so helpful.
4. What was the last thing you threw away? Just emptied the cat box and took the bag out to the garage.
5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited? EBay.
1. Who is your favorite celebrity? Thatís hard, as a rule I really dislike the whole celebrity thing. Probably Oprah.
2. Who is your least favorite? Probably anyone associated with reality TV, Monica Lewinsky and Anna Nicole Smith come to mind. I wouldnít mind meeting Ozzy and Sharon, though ;-)
3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life? Iíve met a few, my husbandís met a ton of fan-type celebrities because heís been to lots of conventions. Iíve seen some local celebrities around town... Marvin Zindler came to my elementary school and Iíve seen him at restaurants we go to, we saw Mama Ninfa at the Westheimer restaurant, Ron Stone at a local community theater, Dr. Red Duke on an elevator. We saw Jimmy Dean at a New Orleans cafe late one night. Iíve met Anne Rice several times, ran into several famous people at her fan club parties (Joey Ramone, and a few I donít remeber the names of). My husband usually ends up recognizing people, I donít really notice them.
4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not? No, I donít like to be the center of attention. Now, rich... yes!
5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why? I donít think Iíd want to, honestly.
1. What was the first band you saw in concert? Not counting the rodeo concerts at the Astrodome (where from a distance I saw such greats as Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and Sonny & Cher), the first serious concert I saw was Alice Cooper (late, like in 1990). I never went to concerts growing up, I detest crowds and have super sensitive ears. Alice was worth the humming, though!
ADDENDUM: OK, I did see a real concert, up close and personal with my parents in the early 70's. We saw Sammy Davis Jr. here in a small arena venue (in the round yet!) and he knocked me and my cynical little brother out! My brother even got to shake hands with him when he was leaving the stage. That would technically count as my first "real" concert.
2. Who is your favorite artist/band now? I love music way too much to claim favorites. Lately the artists getting heavy rotation in my car/home/Mac are Tori Amos, David Bowie, Poe, Tatu, Avril Lavigne and assorted jazz.
3. What's your favorite song? Way too many... as a child probably Gordon Lightfootís ìIf I Could Read Your Mindî.
4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? I tried guitar, sucked at it, I always thought Iíd be good at the drums but never got the chance. I wish Iíd learned piano, itís probably mya favorite instrument to listen to.
5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why? For fun - Alice Cooper! There are many other people Iíd love to meet, Bowie, McCartney... but I think Alice would be the most fun and Iíd have the most to talk about with :-)
A belated Friday Five, I missed the last two so here's the one for 4/4 at least:
1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life? Iíve lived in 12 different places! 7 houses, 2 duplexes, and 3 apartments. All of them but my parents house were in my name also. I used to move around a lot, I also worked for a company where I got discounts on really nice apartments, but when I got two dogs I had to have back yards from 1986 on.
2. Which was your favorite and why? Favorite apartment was one that backed up to Buffalo Bayou. The apartment itself wasnít that special, but the grounds were beautiful. Favorite house would have to be the one we own now, itís mine and my husbandís first non-rental.
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why? Itís both. I used to sort of look forward to moving, but after the last move my husband has declared weíre never moving again. It took two trips with a giant professional moving trailer and two movers over twelve hours to finish, they wanted to extend it to the next day it was so bad. Together we have so much stuff itís insane. And we have things the way we like them now :-)
4. What's more important, location or price? Actually, the house itself. When we were looking to buy we found lots of houses in good neighborhoods in our price range, but we wanted it all, personality, space and a nice neighborhood. We actually spent a little more than weíd decided on but it was worth it.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)? Uggh, no pools... Ideally? Iíd love to have a house in the middle of a huge piece of land where I canít see or hear my neighbors. Iíd like it to have lots of storage, two big fancy bathrooms, a huge master suite, multiple fireplaces, a big shaded raised porch and a 3 car garage.
1. Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not? No, I really dislike it actually. Iím not a good listener for one thing, I'm easily distracted. Also Iím just not much of a conversationalist. Iíve worked several jobs over the years that involved heavy phone work, as a dispatcher and even the customer service operator for a department store and that will turn you off of it. A lot of times I just cringe when the phone rings, especially when Iím not really in a talking mood, it seems invasive to me. I have to use a headset when I do talk also.
2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? A customer service rep at my insurance company. They owe me money and Iíve been having to bug them to try and get it back before the end of the month.
3. About how many telephones do you have at home? We have four phones, one fax/phone and caller on all the phones. I love caller ID!
4. Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? What happened? Many times at work, sometimes at home. At home I usually hang up on them (Iím really good at just cutting people off ìnot interestedî, ìwrong numberîetc.) At work I had to just be ìpolite and professionalî. My last boss had horrible phone manners, sheíd hang up on sales reps if they pissed her off or put her on hold and then Iíd have to make excuses for her later as the go-between (most of which consisted of ìyou know her... sheís a psychoî).
5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not? Iím a much better writer than I am a speaker. I love email. Iíve always been one of those people that can just sit down and write pages and pages, though I have horrible handwriting.
1. What was the last song you heard? Tori Amosís Girl from Little Earthquakes , I was listening to it in the car today.
2. What were the last two movies you saw? We watched The Ring on video last night... damn, we havenít seen many movies lately... I think Kissing Jessica Stein was the last thing we saw other than stuff on TV.
3. What were the last three things you purchased? Boring stuff, ran errands today. A 300 foot roll of bubble wrap, a giant bag of packing peanuts and seven little mailing boxes.
4. What four things do you need to do this weekend? Ummm... not too much. Wash clothes, visit with my parents, list eBay stuff... update my weblog.
5. Who are the last five people you talked to? My hubby, one of our favorite post office clerks, my dad on the phone, and the two ladies who work at the Box Store where I got my packing stuff this afternoon.
1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)? I just love to read. Mostly fiction novels, magazines and non-fiction books. I have WAY too many piles of magazines to read and I could go broke buying non-fiction books, I love how-to and computer reference books. My first job was in a library, I could never get anything done, I couldn't stop looking at the books :-)
2. What is your favorite novel? Iíd have to say Shirley Jacksonís We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I originally picked it up at a garage sale when I was a kid because of the fabulous gothic cover, but it really stunned me when I read it. Shirley Jackson wrote like no one else.
3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)I have never had an affinity for poetry, I canít remember it, and I donít really enjoy reading it. I think the closest thing that I really appreciate are music lyrics, they touch me much more deeply than poetry. I canít rhyme either. One of my favorite lyrics that comes to mind is from Rushís Dreamline:
While we are young
Wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that weíre only immortal for a limited time
4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?I suppose more self-help and psychology books. I donít believe they are all meaningful, but I really like to explore different ideas and philosophies.
5. What are you currently reading?A really trashy vampire romance by Christine Feehan called Dark Challenge. Iíve been in a really weird mood since the holidays and have been plowing through the series each night before bed.
1. What is your most prized material possession? I have no idea... my husband and I have an insane amount of stuff because weíre both collectors. Iíd probably save the Mac first because I have so many years of work stored on it.
2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest? A little stuffed animal, a cocker spaniel with bells in his ears (well, actually just one bell, I ate the other as a child), that was given to me before I was born by a friend of my parents.
3. Are you a packrat? I used to be, now Iím a ìcollectorî ;-) But Iím incredibly organized, I have to be, big piles of paper follow me wherever I go, I have to constantly toss things to keep up. I'm obsessive-compulsive, though, so that's not really a big problem...
4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum? Iíd love to be a minimalist, but itís just not me. My parents have always managed to maintain a pretty clean spartan look to their house, but Iíve got to pretty much have everything I use in view. Too much clutter makes me claustrophobic and nervous, but people with no clutter around their house make me nervous. Especially no books, a good house needs some books laying around it.
5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there? Sort of a theme, I suppose, weíre going for an Addams Family ambiance. Lots of vintage horror collectibles and posters, kitschy retro stuff, human skulls, that sort of thing. I collect 50ís TV lamps, so theyíre scattered around. Now that we own our own house, Iím also gradually trying to color-coordinate things. Most of the house so far is leaning towards deep blue, burgundy and gold.
I knew I forgot something yesterday - Friday Five:
1. Explain why you started to journal/blog. Iíve had a huge website for over five years and needed a place to put all of the thoughts in my brain that didnít have any relevant place on my website, and I wanted to get back into the habit of writing regularly and taking creative photos. I also need a place to vent on current events on a regular basis and I want more ìabout meî stuff on my site for the people whoíve been visiting me all these years, something a little more personal.
2. Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not? Some of my friends know about it (though they've never mentioned reading it, I think they have better things to do), and there are links to my blog on my main website. None of my direct family are computer literate, fortunately. I wouldnít mind having a completely anonymous journal to really be able to vent, though...
3. Do you have a theme for your journal/blog? Just kind of ìmy life, my opinionsî. Lots of womenís issues, politics, some Goth talk, my bizarro dreams, music and books I like, artsy photos.
4. What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year? Iíd like it to be a good ìabout meî source for my website as well as a place for open-minded people to come for news, cool links. Iíd like to make it more stylish but still easy to read and navigate (Iím still learning the programming languages for Movable Type).
5. Pimp five of your favorite journals/blogs. I love flipping though other peopleís blogs and seeing what they have to think about the world and the fabulous styles. Here are some of the better ones Iíve come across since Iíve been blogging:
Here Kitty KittyJust downright fabulous, one of her many sites. Read her ì100 thingsî list, very interesting.
The Mousetrap I think this is Kittyís mom from what Iíve read. I found her through the Ageless Project and couldnít resist checking out a 70-something liberal womanís view of the world and internet
Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time Blog of a fellow Texan
Brutally Honest Artsy photos and blogging
Delerious Cool another uber-chick blog!
1. What did you have for breakfast this morning? If you didn't have breakfast, why not? Twining's Earl Grey tea with real cream and sugar. My alternate is usually an Atkins shake. I get up so late in the day, I rarely eat a big breakfast because my husband likes to eat dinner early.
2. What's your favorite cereal? I'm not real big on cold cereal. My favorite childhood cereals are Lucky Charms and Corn Pops. Grownup cereal is probably Rice Chex.
3. How often do you eat out? Do you want that to change? We eat out and order in a lot, probably about four nights a week minimum, and we like it that way. Houston is the 'dining out' capitol of the nation... and I think we just won the award for the fattest city too :-(
My husband's birthday is this weekend and we have friends in town from New Orleans also, so we'll be eating out for the whole weekend and Monday, which is his actual birthday. And with his mom midweek, he's a popular guy!
4. What do you plan on having for dinner tonight? Got a recipe for that? We had ravioli stuffed with chicken and herbs, with alfredo sauce and garlic breadsticks. The pasta & sauce is from the dairy section of Kroger's and the breadsticks are from Pillsbury. I make a killer Alfredo sauce from scratch, I use real butter, cream and I get the grated Kraft Italian cheese (mozzarella and parmesan) because it melts really well. Add a little black pepper and a dash of nutmeg and you're done.
5. What's your favorite restaurant? Why? I have several favorites... Our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant is Ninfa's. We've been going to the various locations for years and the quality and service are pretty steady. We also know a lot of the managers and waitresses on a first name basis so that's nice. I love beef fajitas and they have the best. (And they're not nearly as trendy and noisy as some of the other popular chains here in town).
Our favorite Chinese restaurant is Fung's Kitchen. It's about as authentic as you can get, the majority of their customers are Chinese, they have the largest selection I've ever seen at any restaurant, and their quality is consistent. We're regulars also, so everyone there know us. One night when we were eating dinner Marvin Zindler and his entourage came in to eat, so that should tell you something ;-)
Favorite Thai is Thai Pepper in Montrose, Favorite Italian is Macaroni Grill, Favorite Fast Food is James Coney Island, Favorite American comfort food - the 59 Diner, Favorite barbecue - Luther's.
My second go at the Friday Five:
1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why?
Iíd have to say Batman. He was human but could fight with all the big boys with super-human powers. And he was a bat, and hung out at night, had a crush on Catwoman... I like he and his friends so much part of my website is devoted to them.
2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?
Other than a horse ;-) A drum set, I always thought Iíd have been an excellent drummer. I sucked at guitar and I never got a chance at piano. All my agility is in my wrists, though, not my fingers.
3. What's the furthest from home you've been?
Not very far. Probably San Francisco mileage-wise. Or D.C. (family vacations). I want to go to NYC and a few places in Europe before I die.
4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?
Thatís tough... Iím constantly trying to learn new things. Iíve halfway learned so many things I wish I were better at (like foreign languages, cooking and riding a motorcycle). If I could pick one thing Iíd like to be really proficient at right now it would be writing HTML and other website codes from scratch. I have to use helper programs like GoLive still.
5. What are your plans for the weekend?
Donít feel well, the inner ear infection is back, making me dizzy again so if I can get my little bit of eBay work done proficiently Iíll be doing well. Iíd like to get some more website updating done also. The parents are coming to visit Sunday afternoon which will be nice :-)
Finished work early again this evening (yea me!) and jave been doing some major blog surfing tonight. Found lots of worthy sites and relevant rings to add. I'm not a ring collector, but remember, though morticia is 5 years old, wednesday is still in her internet infancy and needs lots of care and upkeep.
I've been wanting to add more about me type stuff, though the whole thing is as about me as you can get, so I've added a new Q & A category and I've joined the Friday Five to stimulate my brain a bit. I know it might sound a bit silly but I kept seeing it on other people's blogs and I thought it would be fun. It's Monday night, Tuesday am now, so now all I have to do is remember to check it each week for new questions. I'm still working on a real about me area also, but here's a start:
1. What is one thing you don't like about your body?
I'm too short-waisted, clothing never fits me correctly :-(
2. What are two things you love about your body?
My pale white skin and my green eyes
3. What are three things you want to change about your home?
Paint the walls! It's all white but we had no time between the last people moving out and us moving in. I want a blue bedroom.
I want to replace the half-dead ugly dining room chandelier over my desk to something nicer (and brighter!)
I want to put bloody shelves in my hall closets, I have way too much stuff and it drives me nuts to pile everything on top of itself.
4. What are four books you want to read this year?
I've got shelves full of "to read" books... let me grab some of the more promising ones...
Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Incubus by Ann Arensberg
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight by Sharon Heller
I've got three or four vampire romance series that I'm working on completing also in between the heavy stuff
5. What are five promises you have kept to yourself?
OK, first hard question...
To try and separate work and play, since I work at home
To stop working at a set time each night, I used to work all night till the sun came up and my poor husband forced me to finally go to bed
To go to bed earlier and get up earlier
To try and eat at least a little better and on some sort of schedule
To read some every night before I go to bed :-)
So mote it be... a small change, but I think more interesting and attractive.
Why Wednesday's Child? I actually was born on a Wednesday, it certainly suits my temperment, I was adopted, and I think it works well with my Addams them from my main site. And I had the cool graphic and have been wanting to do something with it :-)