Recently in Reader Poll Monday Category
1. Is it just me or have all the cool websites been having technical difficulties today? I really wish Twitter would get its shit together. I'm in a boring training and I need to get my Twitters to keep me entertained.
2. What's the last movie you saw? Pan's Labyrinth. It definitely deserved the Oscars it won.
3. What's the last good movie you saw? Pan's Labyrinth
4. If you were paid $10 million, would you be willing to have a 1" tattoo (of your choosing) applied to the middle of your forehead? Hell to the yeah.
5. Welch's juice commercial kids: love 'em or hate 'em? Hate 'em.
6. What is your current must-have software/plugin/online tool? Twitter.
7. Do you have any live plants in your home? Nope.
8. Quick, make up a word and tell us its definition! It's late and I should really be in bed. Pass.
9. Do you love eggs from your head down to your legs? Uh, no.
10. Ask me something. Who's got Memorial Day weekend plans?
Getchyer RPM questions hyeah.
1. What was the highlight of your weekend? Just being able to spend it with my girl. Aside from that, the Kara Walker exhibit at the Walker was pretty good.
2. How often do you get your hair cut? I get it done every 6-8 weeks. I get it cut every other time I go.
3. Can you drive a stick shift? Not really. I think I could manage in an emergency, but it wouldn't be pretty.
4. If someone gave you $1,000 to spend on yourself, how would you spend it? Assuming I'm not doing the responsible thing by paying off debt with it, I'd spend it on living room furniture.
5. What are you most afraid of? Being vulnerable. That's the most all-encompassing answer I can think of.
6. Do you have any vacations planned for the summer? Yup. Tacking on a few days in North Carolina following a work trip in a couple weeks. Immediately upon return from that trip, I'm going to Michigan for Memorial Day weekend. Planning on BlogHer in Chicago in July. Planning on the Chicago Half Marathon in August, but the longer I stay off the wagon, the less likely that's looking. Need to make a decision in the next couple of weeks.
7. What is your non-alcoholic beverage of choice? Water.
8. What is your favorite kind of cereal? Basic 4 and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios are on the verge of being replaced by Quaker Oat Squares.
9. What color looks best on you? Do you wear it often? Best? Uh, black or perhaps red...? Not really sure. A lot of colors look good on me. I wear a fair amount of black, but not so much red.
10. Ask me something. What kind of toothpaste do you use? (I'm too lazy to go over to Sherri's comments and ask it where she will actually answer it, so this a question for all y'all who might be reading.)
Reader Poll Monday is back! Sherri has reinstituted the RPM. Play along here if you like, leave your answers in Sherri's comments, or blog 'em yourself. Whatever floats your boat.
1. What is your all-time favorite song? You can only choose one. Are you kidding me? *blink*blink*
2. What is the cheapest price per gallon you recall ever paying for gas? 79 cents-ish. When I was in college, there was one gas station in Ann Arbor, at Packard and Platt, that had 79 cent gas when all the other stations had it for at least 10 cents more per gallon. Might have been more than that. I don't know how they got away with that since gas pricing is pretty tightly regulated, but that's what it was.
3. How long do you think you could manage without any internet access before totally losing your mind? Depends on what I was doing instead. If I were on vacation I could probably manage a couple weeks, but just going about daily life? Maybe a couple days.
4. If you could bring back one cancelled TV series, which one would you choose? Ally McBeal.
5. Do you use Twitter? Yup.
6. Do you use MySpace? Yup.
7. Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Saturday? Nope. I was busy doing other stuff and frankly didn't even think about it until after. Question of the day: Is "Cinco de Drinko" offensive (or at least in poor taste)?
8. Have you ever had a mint julep? No and they sound like they'd be tastier than I hear they actually are.
9. Would you rather be in a hot dog eating contest or a pie eating contest (assuming you'd have to 5 lbs. of the food)? Ugh. As much as I detest hot dogs, I think I could stomach that better than all that sugar.
10. Ask me something. How was your blogging break?
Reflective this week. Fitting, as Friday will mark my 4-year blogiversary.
1. Comparing your life as it currently is to the way it was a year or two or five ago, are you more content? If so, why? If not, why? Oh, lordy, yes. Five years ago, I was just realizing how much I didn't like my cereal-making job and had no idea what to do about it. Two years ago I was only slightly less broke than I've ever been. I was bitter about my tablet monkey job and hadn't made any discernible (to me) progress in the year I'd been there. A year ago I'd just been promoted, and I had applied for an engineering job several months prior but hadn't heard anything about it. Things with Fly Girl were going as well as they ever had (or ever would).
At the moment I'm lamenting the fact that I can't seem to get everything going right all at once. Things are not where I'd like them to be socially, but overall things are as much in order as they have been otherwise. For the first time ever (excluding my sophomore year single dorm room), I have my own place. Financially things could be much better, but I'm far less stressed about it than I have been in years. That's huge. For once, I feel secure.
2. What do you hope the next year will bring? Do you expect things to more or less stay the same? Or do you see big changes? How do you feel about that? I hope to make significant progress towards reducing my debt. Job-wise, I expect things to be pretty much the same, but I'll be seriously evaluating whether I want to stay where I am. At that point I'll have some experience under my belt that I can leverage in a move. Don't have that at the moment, so here I stay.
I really need to get some new friends. I need to branch out. I've got friends in various groups, but nobody (local) that I'm close with, and no one that I feel I really connect with. A girl's gotta have that. And I suppose I ought to date someone, but the idea of "actively dating" is not appealing, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if I just don't. That's the way it's been for all but the last two years anyway. I kinda feel like I have enough to worry about with everything else to be fretting over this. Maybe that's part of my problem. It's that whole thing about feeling like I don't have enough to offer until I get my own stuff in order. Which is possibly unrealistic, because I think I'm pretty well-adjusted.
Although if there's one thing I got out of being with FG, it was that being happy in your relationship can make a lot of those other worries a lot less worrisome. For me, it seems to take a lot of "other" to balance the relationship part of life. So in the absence of a happy relationship, I have to have a whole lot of other stuff going right to feel half as content. Which, at the moment, I kind of do.
I'm not wild about the fact that I expect things to be much the same a year from now, but if all that means that I've made a dent in my debt, then it'll be okay.
I also expect to have nicer furniture a year from now.
3. What would your ideal life situation be? Do you feel that it's within your grasp, or merely a pipe dream? My ideal life situation involves me enjoying my job, being able to travel a fair bit, living somewhere on the west coast, having a girl who loves me as much as I love her, and having some awesome friends to hang out with. Can't define it any more than that. I feel like eventually I'll get enough of those things to be happy, but it won't ever be ideal, and it won't be anytime soon. So I wouldn't call it a pipe dream, but I'm certainly not close to it. Maybe once I get closer to Happy, i'll be more able to focus on ideal. For now I'd just be happy with, uh, Happy. Because as I said above, I'm content, but I sure wouldn't say I'm Happy.
4. Ask me something. What's keeping you from making your next move?
1. What are/were your relationship dealbreakers? I started to answer this. And then I realized that while the things I was listing were things I didn't like, I hadn't necessarily let them be dealbreakers in practice. And then it occurred to me that the things that would prevent me from starting to date someone in the first place are different from what would cause me to break up with someone. See, I need structure. Concrete guidelines. I can't just answer the damn question.
Here's a stab:
- cheating/lying/deceit
- general grossness/lack of hygiene in its various forms
- strict fundamentalist beliefs/an inability to accommodate differences in religious philosophy
- immaturity
- lack of intellect
2. Ask me something. What's one thing you want to accomplish by the end of this week?
A la Sherri.
1. Are you as sick as I am of being smacked in the face with 9/11 every 5 seconds? Yes, it was a big, awful tragedy, but why the need to devote so much time, energy and money to making us all re-live it over and over and over again? Yes. My favorite part is the network that is re-broadcasting their coverage from that day. Pffffft. (Actually, I couldn't say what network it is. I just heard that in a rant by a similarly annoyed person.) Whatever happened to forward-looking people? It's not like anybody's forgotten.
2. What's your favorite kind of cookie? It's a toss up between chocolate chip and snickerdoodles.
3. Do you wear a watch? Usually, yes.
4. Coffee or tea? Or me? Heh. Coffee.
5. Would you rather eat a roll of toilet paper or eat a kitchen sponge with a scrubby side? Toilet paper.
6. Do you regularly burn candles at home? Not regularly, no. And now that you've mentioned it, I'm going to light one right now.
7. What is the last thing you did to treat yourself? I left work on time today. Wow. That's sad. I went to Target yesterday and in addition to the items I really did need to purchase, I also bought new underwear. Hrm, that's not much better. That's it, I'm having some ice cream.
8. Would you rather be lied to by someone you love or forced to lie to someone you love? Aw, hell. They both suck. My first thought was that I'd rather be the liar, because I'd know in my head that I probably had a good reason and maybe have their best interests at heart in some way. And I wouldn't necessarily trust someone else to do the same (have a good reason, that is). Which I suppose doesn't say much for my relationship with them. Or maybe it's just reflective of my personality. And now I'm paranoid.
9. Have you attended any of your high school or college reunions? Nope. I did actually want to attend my 10th high school reunion last year, but it just didn't work out.
10. Ask me something. Selfishly: How do you combat burnout? What do you to to rejuve? (You like how I just made that a word there? "Rejuve.")
Once again, Sherri saves me from a total lack of content.
Would you rather:
1. Watch a porno with your parents OR starring your parents? *squick* I think with my parents.
2. Lick the handle on a public restroom toilet OR eat a wad of toilet paper from the stall floor? For chrissake!!! I'll lick the handle.
3. Be MC Hammer OR Vanilla Ice? Uhhh... MC Hammer, I guess.
4. Be able to fly OR read people's minds? I'm sure this is as much a curse as a blessing, but I think I'd rather read people's minds. I'm sure it would deliver a crushing blow to my self-esteem in the process, but it seems more useful than flying.
5. Have whatever you want for one year then die OR be paralyzed for life? Oh geez. Am I paraplegic? Quadriplegic? I think I'd rather have my life.
6. Have a permanent smile OR a permanent blank stare? I think I'd rather have the blank stare. I saw a guy at a Fringe show over the weekend who had a bit of a perma-smile. Like one of those people who sneers and seems a little manic when they laugh. It was just creepy.
7. Be burned alive OR drown? Jesus. I think I'd rather drown. Seems a little quicker.
8. Be known worldwide as a racist OR a child molestor? Racist.
9. Eat three pounds of hair OR drink a gallon of shampoo? I'll drink the shampoo, thanks.
10. Be god OR the devil? Gimme god.
From Sherri, by way of stampydurst.
1. What was the worst nickname you had as a child? I didn't have any particularly bad ones. My mom used to call me "Erica Bear-ica" which I didn't particularly love, but whatever.
2. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you at school? I think getting my first period during pre-season basketball was pretty bad.
3. What was your most memorable haircut? I think the whole bangs/glasses/braces phase in 7th/8th grade was pretty bad.
4. Which fashion trend makes you cringe when you look at old pictures? At the same time as the bangs/glasses/braces, I was going through a rayon shirt/vest/culottes phase. Aside from that, shoulder pads.
5. Who was your first celebrity crush? I have no idea....
6. What was the first concert you attended? New Kids on the Block (sans Donnie Wahlberg, I was robbed!)
7. Were you ever in a school play or recital? What was your role? I was in three musicals in high school. Just in the chorus. Except in Jesus Christ Superstar I was also this dancing evil spirit thing called a "Tormentor" (we slinked around with Judas a lot). UPDATE: How could I forget?! When I was in 7th grade, I was the star of the school Xmas play. I was Pablo, a Mexican reindeer. I have horrible memories of the principal (Sr. Ursula, who was as awful as you might imagine a nun named "Ursula" would be) coaching me on a terrible fake Mexican accent.
8. What was your favorite Halloween costume? A Michigan State football player, when I was about 7 or 8, I think.
9. What did you want to be when you grew up? I went through a marine biologist phase, and then settled on chemical engineer pretty early on.
10. What was your favorite cartoon? Voltron and Thundercats.
1. What is the first blog you remember reading? I vaguely remember Dooce, Schoolgirl Sophistry (defunct), Girl in Camo, and Dean Esmay from way back in the beginning.
2. If you have a blog, how long have you been blogging? If you don't, how long have you been commenting on blogs? It'll be four years in September.
3. What do you think are the best aspects of blogging? Meeting people. Having a chance to express myself, especially since I'm generally introverted and at least half of the stuff I blog would probably never come up in conversation. Not because I wouldn't say it. Because I don't have that much conversation.
4. And the worst? Sussing out if people are genuine.
5. Do you find yourself sensoring what you write (either in your blog or in comments) based on who you think will see what you've written, or do you tend to throw caution to the wind and bare your soul? I censor myself.
6. Have you ever written anything you wish you hadn't? Have you ever deleted your posts or your comments? I think I've regretted maybe two posts ever. I've deleted a post, but at the request of someone else, not because I regretted posting it.
7. About how many hours a week do you spend blogging or and/or reading blogs? Now that I'm back at a cube job, a lot more than I was, although I am actually having to do some work at my cube job. Maybe four or so hours a day. Does that sound like a lot?
8. If you blog, do you think there will come a time when you just stop doing it? If you don't blog, do you think you'll ever start? At the moment, I definitely feel like I could keep doing this for a while. It'll evolve into something different from what I'm doing now, I'm sure. But who the hell knows? Even when I've been feeling burned out I haven't really stopped. I've only taken a week's hiatus here and there for emotional distress.
9. Do you share things on your blog or in comments that you don't necessarily share in your "real" life? Not really. The kind of stuff I say here is not stuff I would absolutely not ever say, but in "real" life I might need some prodding. Or some alcohol.
10. Ask me something blog-related. If you could/had to change your domain name, what would you change it to?
From Sherri, courtesy of Misty Chorin.
1. What's the last book you read that you didn't finish? I know there was one not too long ago, but I can't even think of what it was now. I can tel you I think the next one is about to be Michael Savage's The Enemy Within. I'm trying to be open-minded, but I was disgusted before I got through the first page of the preface. I'm one chapter in and it's not getting any better.
2. Would you rather own a trained monkey or a talking parrot? The monkey would be more fun but harder to take care of, so I'll go with the parrot.
3. What newspaper do you read most often? I don't really read the paper, online or otherwise. I get most of my news from Minnesota Public Radio.
4. Can you whistle? Yes, but not the two-fingers-in-the-mouth way.
5. How do you like your eggs prepared? Scrambled, with cheese.
6. Which is bigger, the measurement around your waist, or around your bust? Bust, but not by much. Which is not to say that my waist is particularly big.
7. What is the most talented physical capability you have? Hell, I don't know. I like to think that I'm pretty coordinated.
8. Do you have any Sunday rituals? Besides sleeping in? Nope.
9. What's the first department you go to in Wal-Mart? In the grocery store? I don't go to Wal-Mart, so I'll substitute Target (or Meijer if we had them here) and say, "it depends on what I'm there for." I almost always swing through the underwear intimates section, the workout gear section, and the ladies' apparrel clearance rack.
10. If you could go back in time to any year, what would it be? I'll say 1994. My junior/senior years of high school. Oh, except I suppose there are more historically significant and interesting years than my high school days, in which case I will say that I'll take a year in ancient Greece to hang out with Sappho while she was doing her thing.
From Sherri, courtesy of schmims.
1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? It used to be chocolate chip cookie dough, but now it's Haagen-Dazs Bailey's, followed by Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin.
2. What was the last thing you purchased on the internet and what site did you purchase it from? I purchased two University of Michigan license plate frames for my new (damaged *sniff*) car. The old ones are a rusty mess and barely readable. Gotta represent 'round hyeah.
3. What are the top five most common items on your grocery list? Ooh. That's a good question. Ice cream, half and half, oranges, roast beef, cheese.
4. What are you plans after work this evening? I'm here until about 10:00 tonight, I have to be back in at 8:00 tomorrow a.m., and I've already got my run in, so I'll probably check to make sure the internet is working, and then read.
5. Do you have any weird dating hang ups? I don't do a whole lot of dating, so I'm not sure.
6. When was the last time you went to a park, which park was it, and what did you do there? On Sunday I went to Loring Park (adjacent to downtown Minneapolis) for the Pride festival.
7. What was your first job? A slave for my mom's home daycare.
8. Did you sleep in your own bed last night? Did anyone sleep with you? Just checking. Yes and yes.
9. What is your biggest traffic pet peeve? And you can only pick one. Only one?! But there are so many. I guess I'll go with people who get in the left lane and mosey because they think it's their right to force everyone to do the speed limit.
10. Are you a recycler? Yes, when the city I happen to be living in conveniently provides the bins and such for me. But I'm not hardcore about it.
11. Oh yeah, ask Sherri something. Are you as excited for BlogHer as I am?!
From Sherri, by way of Ms. Writes and Snaps.
1. Would you rather eat ONLY Syrian food or ONLY Mexican food for the rest of your life? Oh, that's a tough one. Mexican wins by a nose, only because it's easier to make/obtain.
2. What's the meanest thing you've ever done? I'm kinda conflict-avoidant, so I don't have a whole lot of items to choose from in this category. In 7th grade I blatantly cheated on my spelling homework and then blamed it on a "bad" kid (and got away with it). More recently, I cut off a toxic person. Others thought this was more mean than I did.
3. Did you see a movie this weekend? If so, what? No movies. I watched the new Jeff Dunham DVD. On a stick!
4. What's the most recent CD you purchased? Coleman Lindberg's latest EP, Making My Name.
5. If 12 hot Blogger girls put their heads together and made a calendar, would you buy it? Not likely.
6. Where did you go on your last vacation? Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico. That's halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
7. What defines summer in your world? Shorts weather, green grass, the smell of burning charcoal, running and biking around the lakes.
8. What time did you get up this morning? I was kind of awake starting about 6:20. Alarms went off at 6:45 and 6:50. Got out of bed at 7:00.
9. If you could be interviewed on any talk show, which one would you want to be on? Maybe ac 360°. Or Oprah.
10. How many hours a day are you actually WORKING at work? Varies widely from day to day. While I certainly have eight hours worth of work to do, today I'm going to aim for four.
Guest poller today.
1. What childhood vacation do you remember the most fondly? I don't have any childhood vacations that I remember fondly. We didn't really vacation. I can really only remember two trips from my pre-high school years. One was to Wheels Inn in Toronto. I'm sure we saw other things in Toronto, but I mostly just remember that there was a pool and a water slide at Wheels Inn. The other was to the west coast of Michigan, to see the sand dunes. I got a tank top from Grand Haven that I really liked until I outgrew it. Then there was the summer of 1993 in which we wedged in a trip to Seaworld of Ohio in between a Monday and Wednesday that I had to work at Arby's. I think that's the extent of our family vacations.
2. How many colors has your hair been? Just the one I was born with.
3. Would you rather be placed in a tub filled with water snakes or covered with ants? OMG. I guess I'd rather be in the tub filled with snakes, assuming they're not actually poisonous or prone to biting.
4. Are you camp Jessica or camp Nick? (heh) Camp Puke.
5. Do you have a swimming pool? Can we come over? No pool, but you're certainly welcome to come over.
6. Salty or sweet? Sweet, generally.
7. When did you last get a kiss? Yesterday.
8. Do you play a musical instrument? Nope.
9. What's your favorite kind of weather? Fall. Sun. 60-ish. Where it's cool enough to run without being all bundled up but without getting all sweaty. And where you can be perfectly comfortable in either pants or shorts, long sleeves or short sleeves.
10. What are you wearing right now? A hunter green ribbed tank top, some black and white board-esque shorts (my new favorites), and some flip-flops. See for yourself.
1. Are there any foods you do not allow yourself to eat, even though you love them? Hell to the no.
2. Have you attended any of your high school or college reunions? Nope. My 10-year high school reunion was last fall and to my surprise I was sort of a little bit interested in going, but it was logistically inconvenient. I have no interest whatsoever in going to any college reunions. My university/college/class was so big, if there's anyone I'd like to see, I'd have to arrange that with the individual. There's no way I'd just run into folks.
3. If you could trade lives with another blogger for a week, who would you pick? You know, there's not really anyone I'd like to trade lives with. There are plenty of bloggers I'd like to meet, but none I'd like to be.
4. What's your favorite thing to do on a chilly, drizzly day? Sleep. Snuggle. Fall asleep snuggling.
5. What kind of cell phone do you have? I have a Sanyo PM-8200. In red. I love that my phone is red. That may be a search criterion the next time I need a phone. When I bought this phone, the guy at Radio Shack told me the red ones sold like hotcakes and I got the last one they had. I've never seen anyone else with the red one. I've seen folks with all the other colors, but never the red.
6. Describe any piercings or tattoos you have. Piercings: left eyebrow, two holes in my left earlobe, one in my right (used to be two, but the second one closed up a long time ago). Tattoos: vine with flowers around my right arm, Taurus symbol on my left hip.
7. What is your ideal 10-day vacation? In ten days, I'd say a tour of two or three cities. Not necessarily in the same country. But that's enough time to see those cities, and see some stuff in between. There'd be a little bit of nature, and a little bit of hustle and bustle. That's the style of vacation I like. I couldn't nail down a destination at the moment.
8. How many umbrellas do you own? Two. One travel-sized one that I hate that's green and yellow plaid. As of last week I have a company-logo-ed golf umbrella that I don't really foresee using. I hate carrying extra stuff as it is. I'd rather just wear a jacket that will keep me dry.
9. What is one thing you've learned over the past 24 hours? I can get cardholder-only discounts at Eddie Bauer if I sign up for an Eddie Bauer card. Because what I really need is another credit card.
10. Ask me something. Have you said anything lately that you wish you could take back?
I'm all late and shit.
1. Do you pee in the shower? Yes, I do. I didn't until I asked about it a while back, but now I'm so used to doing it I get the urge right when I get in the shower.
2. Do you buy organic/free range products? Nope.
3. What was the highlight of your weekend? The Boyz were here visiting for my b-day.
4. What's your favorite 80s power ballad? Love and Affection by Nelson. Inspired by Dawn, I'm changing my answer to To Be With You by Mr. Big.
5. Have you ever been in a fist-fight? No. I was in a shoving match in 3rd grade, but never a "real" fight.
6. Do you have any secrets you've never told to another person? Yes. Although I can't think of what those might be at the moment.
7. Would you rather consume a cupful of 5 randomly selected condiments, or a cupful of rotten milk? I'll take the condiment cocktail.
8. About how many words per minute can you type? 60-ish, I think. I thought about finding an online test to verify (I know I've done one before), but I'm too lazy right now.
9. What is your favorite thing about spring? The warm-but-not-hot weather.
10. Ask me something. Whatcha doing this weekend?
Thank you, Sherri, for saving me from a totally content-less day.
1. When is the last time you had a papercut? Last week. Although, technically, it's more of a foil cut.
2. Would you rather have a 5 pound tumor on your face or a 50 pound tumor on your back, neither of which could ever be removed? *shriek* On my back, I guess. I could not look at that in the mirror every day.
3. What was the best part of your weekend? I did several enjoyable things this weekend, but frankly, I had the most fun grocery shopping with Fly Girl.
4. Do you like peanut butter? Only when mixed with chocolate. Especially in Reese's Miniatures.
5. List three foods you can't stand. Hot peppers of any variety, olives, and anchovies. It's a total coincidence that those are all pizza toppings.
6. Did you make your bed this morning? Yes. I never ever used to make my bed, but FG has gotten me in the habit and I think I might actually keep the habit.
7. When it comes to handshakes, are you firm? Absolutely, yes.
8. What was the most effective punishment for you as a kid? I didn't get punished a whole lot, but I seem to remember having to go a week without television as being particularly difficult. I also distinctly remember hiding under my bed once trying to avoid a spanking.
9. What is your favorite way to fix/eat potatoes? Mashed, with some sort of cheese. White cheddar or gorgonzola.
10. Ask me something. Say I have $300 extra out of my first new and improved paycheck. What should I spend it on?
These Mondays just keep on coming.
1. If forced to choose, would you rather eat your weight in Peeps or in Cadbury Creme Eggs? Cadbury Creme Eggs.
2. Have you finished your taxes? (If you live outside the US, how is your income taxed?) Yes. Just last night. And I think I'll have to amend them.
3. Should I re-design my blog? Sure, why not? Somebody's got to and clearly I'm not doing mine.
4. What is your favorite kind of cereal? Basic 4. But I also (more) regularly by Corn Chex, Kix, Honey Nut Cheerios, and sometimes Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.
5. If, in 3 months, you were forced to permanently leave the city/town in which you currently live, where would you go? San Francisco, baby.
6. What one word best describes you? Someone once told me "audacious" and I like that. At the present moment, I'd say "transformed" would also be a good one.
7. Which actor would want to represent you in a movie about your life? Pfffft. I have no idea. Based on vague physical resemblance I might say Halle Berry, but I don't really actually like her that much.
8. Do you have any birthmarks? No.
9. How many states have you lived in? Just two. Michigan and Minnesota.
10. Ask me something. What are you proud of this week?
1. Do you have phone at home, or do you only use a cell phone? Just my cell phone.
2. Do you like the feeling of wet sand squishing between your toes? NO!
3. What's your favorite kind of donut (if you LIE and say you don't like donuts, you're no friend of mine!)? It's between a regular Krispy Kreme glazed donut, and those apple stuffed/cinnamon powdered donuts.
4. Did you play any April fool's pranks on anybody on Saturday? Nope.
5. Did you remember that Daylight Savings Time began on Sunday? Yup.
6. On a scale of 1 - 10, how would you rate your swimming ability? Maybe about a 3. I can keep from drowning and I'm not particularly afraid of the water or the depth, but I'm not very comfortable in the water, either.
7. Are you allergic to anything? If so, what? I'm not accutely, anaphylactic-shock allergic to anything, but dust, mold, ragweed, and grass make me sniffly.
8. What are your three favorite shows on TV? Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Survivor.
9. Would you rather be covered in 100 bee stings, or 100 mosquito bites? I've done the mosquito bite thing before, but I've never been stung by a bee. I guess I'll go with the bites over the stings.
10. Ask me something. What's one of your favorite items in your wardrobe?
For some reason, I feel like this should be a festive event. Like it should be "Reader! Poll! Monday!" But I'm not feeling very festive today.
1. How many languages can you speak, at least at a conversational level? One. If you count being able to converse at perhaps a kindergarten level, then two. Spanish being the second language.
2. Do you believe that bad things happen in threes? Not really. But I will partake in the "People die in threes, wonder who's next?" conversation.
3. If you could take away the pain (physical or emotional) of any one person, who would you choose and why? Really, I'd selfishly like for my own emotional discomfort to be taken care of. But instead I'll extend the relief to the wife of a co-worker who committed suicide over the weekend.
4. What is something most people don't know about you? You know, I don't know that there is anything that most people don't know. If anyone that does know me would like to offer a suggestion, I'd be interested to hear it.
5. If you had the opportunity to learn the salaries of everyone you encountered, would you want to know? Hell yeah.
6. What is one album or song that you think everyone should listen to? Guster's Demons. Bestest. Guster. Song. Ever. (In fact, here: have a listen.)
7. Do you like to go grocery shopping? Not really, but I don't hate it.
8. For a $1,000 donation to your favorite charity, would you be willing to walk around all day in public with a giant brown stain on the seat of your pants? Yes. And you sure better believe I'd tape a sign to my back with a big ol' arrow that says "It's for charity."
9. What are your thoughts on artificial sweeteners? I know in theory that they're bad for me, but I don't mind 'em as long as they don't taste weird.
10. Ask me something. I'm sad today. Anything you're sad about?
It's Monday again? Sheesh.
1. What's the next holiday/event you're really looking forward to celebrating? My birthday. The Boyz are coming to visit! *happy dance*
2. If you had to choose, what would be your favorite gadget? My iBook. Or do we mean something smaller? Maybe my iPod.
3. What magazines do you subscribe to? I don't, but if somebody were to gift me with a subscription, I'd like Utne, please.
4. How often do you floss your teeth? I was totally in the habit for a while, and then I slacked off again. I maybe do a three-day stint about once a month.
5. When is the last time you sent/received flowers? I bought Fly Girl a red daisy sometime last summer.
6. What is your favorite breakfast? The #2 at Uptown Diner. French toast, eggs (scrambled with cheddar), and bacon. With coffee. So you get both the sweet and the protein breakfast.
7. Are you a lip balm addict? Addict? No. But I do really really like to have some on me at all times. I don't usually have more than one or two sticks at a time.
8. If forced to choose, would you rather have an active sex life without the possibility of ever having an orgasm, or have fantastic orgasms but be forced to remain celibate? OMG, you cruel cruel woman. I think I'd rather have the orgasms. But... I don't really know. As a lesbian, it'd be much easier to have a happy emotional relationship with no sex (no sex together, anyway) than it would be as a hetero woman. I'm just going to be grateful that I do not actually have to make this decision.
9. What would you do right now with $50? Pay my therapist. Or buy some jeans.
10. Ask me something. Spring is coming. Planning on running any races anytime soon?
As decreed by Sherri.
1. Do you have plans for St. Patrick's Day? Some guys from work were talking about going out after work on Friday night, probably to BW3. That may or may not still be happening. I went ahead and signed up for the 10k, so I'll be doing that on Sunday morning.
2. When is the last time you consumed alcohol? When I was in Mexico, a few weeks ago. I lied. It was last Friday. Went to happy hour with my friend Renae and had a pint, and then had another pint at Bryant-Lake Bowl at Coleman Lindberg's CD release party. OMG, when was the last time I went to happy hour? I can't even remember. It was so nice to be out amongst the people. Except for the traffic.
3. Have you ever been arrested? Nope.
4. Do you have a bad habit you'd be willing to pay $250/month to break if it were guaranteed to work? Nope.
5. Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right-handed.
6. Do you use a letter opener when you open your mail? Nope. If there were one handy, I'd use it, but I've not felt compelled to obtain one.
7. Would you rather receive daily shoulder rubs or daily foot rubs? Shoulder rubs. I can rub my own feet (even though it's not the same).
8. Would you rather rappel down the side of the tallest building on earth, or walk cross a 6-inch wide beam suspended across the Grand Canyon? I'd rappel.
9. What time did you wake up this morning? I think I first woke up about 7-ish. I tossed and turned a bit, and finally really got up at 9.
10. Ask me something. If I said, "Drop and give me 50!" could you still do it?
Not just on Monday. On Monday morning!
1. If you watched the Oscars last night, what did you think of Jon Stewart? I liked him.
2. What was the highlight of your weekend? I had a nice run on Saturday afternoon.
3. Do you regularly buy lottery tickets? Nope.
4. What was the last thing you did that really gave you a sense of accomplishment? Go to Mexico.
5. Do you consider yourself a good speller? Yes.
6. If forced to choose, would you rather drink a quart of a stranger's urine or be completely covered in a stranger's poop for an hour? I'll drink the pee.
7. If you could spy, undetected, on another person for a 24 hour period, who would you choose to spy on? I plead the fifth. Okay, maybe the president.
8. What's the greatest thing about living in your town/city? The lakes and trails in the summertime.
9. Is your stove/oven electric or gas? Gas.
10. Ask me something. Are you ready for spring yet? Because I sure as fuck am.
I'm not even gonna attempt to catch up on last week's. Last week was a designated No Internet week and I made it through just fine.
1. What is your absolute favorite website? Truthfully? My own.
2. What would you do if all of the sudden, that website were blocked by the government? I would freak the fuck out because if the government is on to my personal website, that can't be a good thing.
3. Do you regularly wear perfume/cologne? No, but whenever I put some on, I think that I should wear it regularly.
4. How many hours of sleep do you usually get each night? Eight or so.
5. When is the last time you made whoopee? Uh, about two weeks ago, I think. *blush*
6. If forced to choose, would you rather have a tattoo covering most of your face or have blue skin? I read a sci-fi book once involving people with blue skin. I'd rather have the tattoo. It's weird, but more explainable.
7. Do you like pickles? Yes.
8. Are you comfortable in social situations where you don't know anyone? Somewhat. More so than I used to be.
9. Coke or Pepsi? COKE.
10. Ask me something. 'Fess up. You like being asked the questions more than you like asking the questions, don't you?
1. Is there snow on the ground where you are? A little.
2. When is the last time you played in the snow? Played? In the snow? I guess it would have been the last time I went skiing, which is probably a good four or five years ago now.
3. Do you generally like snow? Not really, no. It looks pretty out the window, but I wish it would morph into spring the second I step outside.
4. Have you ever had a snowball fight? I'm sure I have.
5. Do you like to ski or snowboard? I like skiing alright. I'm sure I'd like it more now that I'm actually in shape. It's kind of an expensive hobby, though. I actually really like the snowblades/mini-skis. I've never tried snowboarding. Fly Girl was just saying yesterday that she ought to try snowboarding. I say she would be the Cutest Snowboarder Ever with all the cool gear on.
6. Have you been watching the winter Olympics? A little. I'm not generally home in primetime. I'm so sad about Michelle Kwan.
7. If so, what's your favorite even to watch? Figure skating.
8. Have you ever built a snow fort? I've built snow tunnels.
9. What's your worst snow-related injury? I'm not sure I've had any.
10. Ask me something. What are your thoughts on watching the upcoming season of The Amazing Race that we totally should have been on? Personally, I'm a little bitter.
Sherri's 30th Birthday Edition
1. How much of a total slacker am I for not yet sending out an email invite to my birthday shin-dig which is on Thursday? I'll be lucky if anyone even shows up at this point. *mope* You're not a slacker. You're just otherwise occupied. Okay, no, you're a slacker.
2. What has been your most memorable birthday so far? I've had some pretty good birthdays. The last few years I've been on vacation for my b-day, though those were more coincidence than plan. My 21st was memorable in the way that you would expect a 21st birthday to be, and that's not necessarily a good way. For my 16th we were in the throes of putting on Jesus Christ Superstar in my high school, and I received one of my favoritest CDs and my first pair of Birkenstocks.
3. Have your parents ever forgotten your birthday? Nope. Although last year I declined to acknowledge their acknowledgment.
4. What would be your ideal way to spend your birthday? I'm not really big on "celebrating" my birthday. I'm just looking forward to spending it this year with Fly Girl, because I didn't last year (and I've now lived through two of her birthdays). I'd be content to have a nice dinner somewhere I don't usually go. I've had some exciting birthdays, but not because it was about my birthday. It was because I was doing something fun, and it's like my birthday was the bonus.
5. Do you share your birthday with any of your friends? I haven't shared my birthday with friends here in years. I have shared it with The Boyz the last couple years on account of being on vacation with them. Again, not real big on celebrating the birthday.
6. When is your birthday? April 30.
7. What's your favorite kind of birthday cake? Yellow with white frosting.
8. Do you ever buy yourself presents for your birthday? Kind of. I impusively splurge on myself from time to time, and my birthday just happens to be an excuse to do that. I think last year around that time I bought myself an iPod mini.
9. Are you good at remembering other people's birthdays? Nope. There are a very few whose birthdays are burned into my brain. But even then I rarely remember in a timely fashion to do something thoughtful about it.
10. Ask me something. Do your friends tend to be older than you or younger than you?
Yeah, yeah, I'm late.
1. If you could have the athletic ability of any world-class athlete for a week, which sport would you choose to try? I'd love to play with USA Basketball. But I think I'd rather be some sort of track athlete.
2. Who would you add to the list of the 50 Most Loathsome People in America? George W. Bush. Okay, that was too easy.
3. What one decision do you feel has had the biggest impact on your life? Quitting my job at the big company I moved to MN to work for. That changed everything about my life as it was and as I thought it was going to be. I'd like to have the money, and I'd like to have done without all the suffering that ensued, but I absolutely would not be in the happy place I am now had I stayed there. I may still have met Fly Girl, though.
4. Would you rather fart loudly while in a meeting with everyone in your office, or have a giant booger hanging from your nostril for an entire day? I'd rather fart.
5. If you could have dinner with any blogger, who would you choose to dine with? Lachlan and Bayou.
6. Did you ever have a sticker collection? Yes. I remember liking the puffy ones. And my last (dead) laptop had a sticker collection on it. That might be the only reason I haven't gotten rid of it yet.
7. What is your favorite board game? Trivial Pursuit.
8. Do you have one foot which is bigger than the other? Yes. I think it's my left foot that's slightly bigger.
9. Do you ask people to send you postcards when they travel? I don't ask for them, but if they're offering, I'll take one.
10. Ask me something. Is there anything you had hoped to have accomplished by the age of 30 that you haven't?
The Mondays, they just keep on coming.
1. When did it become OK to spend $5.00 on a stupid cup of coffee? Um, it hasn't. But I was much more likely to do it when I had more cash flow, and didn't mind having a ridiculous caffeine habit. Now, not only do I not want to spend that much on coffee drinks, I don't need or want all the caffeine that comes with an espresso shot. I will go into a coffee shop and order an actual cup of coffee.
2. And $2.00 on a bottle of water? Never. I don't even like bottled water. I'm glad that my new apartment has good, tasty water.
3. What color are your eyes? Brown. Poop brown. Okay, fine, milk chocolate brown. Same difference.
4. What is the last thing you purchased? Groceries.
5. Do you think celery and carrots belong in chicken noodle soup? Yes. And, for the record, chicken soup from a can is ass.
6. You've got a 30 minute ride on the subway, would you rather sit beside someone who is clipping their fingernails or someone who is cracking their gum? OMG, give me the gum cracker. I hate hate HATE random fingernail clipping. I have a thing about textures on my feet and so I rarely walk around the house barefoot. If I step on a fingernail or toenail it will totally skeeve me out.
7. Do you have a dream list of gadgetry? If so, what's on it? I'd like to have a video iPod, and a nicer laptop. If I had the money, I'd totally go for a MacBookPro, but I'd even be happy with a more-decked-out iBook. A Blackberry or a Treo or something like that (and the service to go with it) would be cool. I kind of wish I had a newer tv with the a/v inputs and outputs necessary to make it play nice with the rest of my components. A Roomba would be kind of cool. But none of those are Must Haves.
8. When is the last time you cleaned your bathroom mirror? Uhhh... about a month ago.
9. What is the last thing you do before you walk out the door in the mornings? Mornings for me are usually early afternoon, but the last thing I do is grab my keys, wallet, phone, iPod, hat, and mittens off the table by the door.
10. Ask me something. Still thinking about going to Spain?
Since I'm not working today, I can get these out in a reasonably timely fashion.
1. What is your most prized posession? Am I shallow for saying my computer? Because I love electronic umbilical cord. My degree might be a close runner up. Not so much for its usefulness, but because it was expensive, and difficult, and I earned that bitch, dammit.
2. What one thing are you most proud of? My travels. I still don't think I've seen much, but I know I've already seen far more than most people.
3. What one thing do you regret most? That I'm not already seeing a therapist.
4. If forced to choose, would you rather cut off your own thumb or have your entire dominant hand surgically removed? Cut off my own thumb. I have good insurance and could still use those fingers.
5. What is your favorite dairy product? Cheese. Extra sharp cheddar.
6. Can you rollerskate/rollerblade? Yes. As long as the surface is really flat and really smooth.
7. How many pillows are on your bed? Four.
8. Do you have any pet political issues? Gay rights.
9. When you find out that someone has been lying to you and willingly hurting you (without even a hint of an apology) for 4 months, is it *wrong* to wish that some greusome and painful illness befalls him? Or that he gets his cold heart stomped on by someone else for the rest of his pathetic life? Oh, no, not wrong to wish it on him. In fact, I think you're quite justified.
10. Ask me something. What will be the next thing you buy?
1. How did you ring in 2006? At home with my girl. I was playing on the internet. She was asleep on the couch. Prior to that exact moment, we went out for Vietnamese for dinner and then rearranged our living room furniture.
2. How did you ring in 2000? On a farm in northern Michigan with The Boyz. I think that was the first year I went. It was right after graduation.
3. So far, which has been your favorite way to ring in a new year? My first trip up north with The Boyz was the best one. The New Years Ball was created that year. But then this year I was the happiest I've been in recent memory.
4. Do you usually make resolutions? Kind of. Not really. I try to have a goal or two and Think About Approaching Some Things Differently.
5. If not, why? If so, do you keep them? They're not all that concrete on account of that whole managing my expectations thing. More often than not, I make a "resolution" and then I can look back in a year and see whether or not I made progress, but I don't feel like I actively work on most things. Except that that's really not the case. Maybe it's just that I've had the same goals for the last three years and only just in the last year made some sort of progress on them. It's really only been since I've been relatively unhappy with the way my life is going that I've had anything resembling New Year's Resolutions. It's kind of like my need to make To Do lists to get anything done, because I require that small sense of accomplishment that comes from crossing something off, and because I can't usually focus for very long on one thing. I am all over the damn place with this answer.
6. Do you do anything superstitious at the stroke of midnight? Nope.
7. Did you know that we were all given an extra leap second this year? Did you use it wisely? No idea. I squandered it!
8. Do you have any new year's day traditions? Nope.
9. What are you most looking forward to this year? In no particular order: Running my first half marathon. Making things work with my girl, Fly Girl (note that that's something I intend to actively work on, and not just ride through as it happens). Maybe perhaps not being under severe financial stress for at least a little while. The possibility of not being in Minnesota by the end of the year (which I'm try not to think or stress about until I have more information).
10. Ask me something. Where do you want to go on your next vacation? I know you've always got something good up your sleeve. (Someone else already asked that question.) How about this one, which I've asked before, but since it's a different week: What's your new favorite thing this week?
If it weren't for Sherri, I might not have blogged anything today. Real life gets in the way, you know?
1. Are you going to any holiday parties this year? My work holiday party is in January. I may go to that.
2. Are you traveling anywhere for the holidays? Possibly going to see Fly Girl's family in Buffalo for Xmas. I say "possibly" only because we haven't obtained plane tickets yet.
3. If you could have any gift you wanted, what would it be? Money. Like, $1000 would be sufficient.
4. How do you typically wrap your gifts? Like normal, I guess. In wrapping paper, with bows. I'm not particularly anal, but I do wrap neatly.
5. Do you like to shop? For myself, yes. For others, not really, because I'm a totally non-creative gift-giver. And I hate being out in the crowds. Shopping for people is stressful enough without all those people being around.
6. Do you prefer white or multi-colored lights on a Christmas tree? Multi-colored lights on the tree.
7. What is your favorite winter-related smell? Baking spices. Cinnamon and all that stuff.
8. Are you sending out any holiday cards this year? Yes. Probably a combo of paper cards and e-cards.
9. Would you want to be this guy's neighbor? [Work-safe, and you should make sure you have the volume on. Also, this house in in Ohio -- rock!] Hell no.
10. Ask me something. What's your favorite holiday adult beverage? Besides Bailey's on the rocks.
Sherri's a little late on account of yesterday being her first day at her new job.
1. What is the last movie you saw in a theater? Rent.
2. What is your all-time favorite book? I'm not sure I have an "all-time favorite." I remember really liking Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier.
3. Do you own any sex toys? Yes.
4. Gambling: bad habit or entertainment? Mostly bad habit. Maybe a smidge entertaining.
5. What is your favorite Christmas song? To listen to: O Holy Night (the regular and the Eric Cartman version). To sing: the Hallelujah Chorus, Carol of the Bells, maybe Ding Dong Merrily on High. And anything from the Charlie Brown Christmas CD warms my cockles.
6. Christmas tree: real, artificial or none at all? I'd rather have a real tree than a fake tree. I'd rather have a fake tree than no tree at all. I'd rather not go through the hassle of buying a tree, though. I've never bought my own real tree. Okay, I've never bought my own fake tree, either, but I have put one together before. So at the rate we're going, likely no tree at all. But there will be lights!
7. When is the last time you went on a date? I guess I'd consider Fly Girl taking me to see Rent to be a date. We went out to eat afterward. I might be confusing two different evenings there.
8. Have you ever stolen anything from a hotel? Besides toiletries? I might have stolen a towel once.
9. How many hours do you typically spend in front of a computer each day? Assuming I have readily available internet access (which I don't at the moment), about five or six. It's sick, I know.
10. Ask me something. Do you take great pleasure in getting so many responses to RPM? Because I would.
I have not gone to bed yet. Therefore it's still Monday.
1. What is the most annoying ringtone you have ever heard? Anything resembling a video game.
2. What is the best Christmas or holiday CD ever? The Charlie Brown one.
3. Is there snow on the ground where you are? There was, and then it melted. And now the rain is slowly turning into snow. So, um, yes. Sort of.
4. Would you rather crap over a beehive in the woods or on the sidewalk in Manhattan? Don't people crap on the sidewalk in Manhattan all the time? I'll take my chances on the street. Performance art, whatnot.
5. What is in the perfect omelet? Potatoes, ham, cheddar, bacon. Or spinach and feta. That's not a very creative answer.
6. When do you consider it appropriate for a woman to use the clearly marked men's restroom in a restaurant, bar or other public space? Whenever the line for the men's is markedly shorter. Or in cases of emergency.
7. Do you use compact flourescent light bulbs? Uhh... I haven't bought a light bulb in a long time. Probably not.
8. Paper or plastic? Paper.
9. What career should my friend Janet consider after she has made enough money to escape the prison of student loans (she's currently an attorney)? Life coaching.
10. Ask me something. What's your opinion on guys who hang out on message boards geared towards women?
On Monday! I'm so proud of myself.
1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? Turkey and stuffing with gravy. I would gladly forgo all the other stuff just to have this.
2. If you could impose a heavy luxury tax on any single item, what would it be? Hummers (the vehicles, not the sex act) (made for civilians, not the military).
3. What's the most interesting job you've ever had? The cereal-making job was the most interesting, even though I hated it.
4. Have you ever been on TV? I've been on local news a handful of times, most when I was a kid.
5. If you had a 5 year old daughter who wanted to be in a pageant, would you let her? Uh, no.
6. Would you rather have a constant itch, or a constant sore throat? Itch.
7. What's one TV show you simply cannot miss each week? Survivor.
8. When is the last time you went out dancing? Not too long ago. Definitely within the last couple of months.
9. Does hearing Christmas music before Thanksgiving annoy anyone else as much as it annoys me? HELL YES.
10. Ask me something. What's your new favorite thing?
1. What's your current favorite song? Union by Black Eyed Peas and Sting (originally obtained from Ms. Bayou).
2. Any interesting elections in your neck of the woods tomorrow? Where by "tomorrow" we mean "last Tuesday." The mayors of both Minneapolis and St. Paul. No surprise outcomes.
3. Would you rather lose the thumb on your dominant hand or lose your peripheral vision in your dominant eye? Peripheral vision. Those opposable thumbs are awfully useful.
4. How many active email accounts do you have? Five.
5. What is your favorite thing about the city/town in which you live? The trails and lakes.
6. Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? Would you do it again? No, I haven't. And