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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

not one but TWO more memes

Copied from KiwiRia

Meme 1: x. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie?
OK, this really is a big secret. OK? Don't tell anyone. "Mr. Holland's Opus." The end. Every time.

x. If you could have plastic surgery, what would you have done?
Another really big secret. I'd get my breasts augmented. I AM SO SHALLOW. I'm sorry. But I hate when they disappear when I'm lying on my back. Do everyone's do that? Mine didn't, once upon a time before they served their real purpose in lactation for a total of 3 1/2 years.

x. Do you have a completely irrational fear?
No. Because centipedes are from the devil, it is perfectly rational to go into spasms of disgust and fear whenever one wriggles (augh! nightmare!) across my field of view.

x. What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure moment?
Good question! ANOTHER secret being divulged; you can always tell I'm feeling insecure because I cross my arms and hold onto my elbows in front of myself.


ha! you were just trying that out to see if you could figure out what I was talking about, weren't you. :)

x. Are you a pyromaniac?
Actually, yes. I love a good burn pile. I love throwing things in it and watching it flare up. I love the blazing heat and the sparks and the smoke. I like to light a piece of paper and see how long before it's ashes. fun fun fun.

x. Do you have too many love interests?
No. Just one. :)

x. Do you know anyone famous?
An author. I work for her.

x. Spontaneous or plan?
Both. Some of each. I like having things planned (especially unpleasant things -- MUCH better planned than spontaneous -- and financial matters) but I like to do things on the spur of the moment as well.

x. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes.

x. What do you carry with you at all times?
My purse (checkbook, pen, sunglasses, lip gloss, ATM card, gas card, library card) and also generally a book, just in case I get caught waiting somewhere and have time to read.

x. What do you miss most about being little?
Irresponsibility. Not just the fact that more of my time was my own, although that was nice -- more time for horseback riding and reading and whatnot -- but also, the fact that nobody else's existence was riding on my capabilities. Someone else was in charge. I wouldn't want it any other way, really, of course we have to grow up and taking on responsibilities is part of that. Also, having someone else make all my decisions would suck really hard. But sometimes I look at my kids and think they don't know how well they have it, when the biggest decision they have to make is "chicken nuggets or cheeseburger?" And of course they don't know, and won't until they grow up and face real life.

x. Are you happy with your given name?
Yes.

x. How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet for one year?
I think probably ten thousand dollars would do it. Or twelve. A nice round figure, a thousand dollars a month. Assuming I couldn't use the library's internet access either.

x. Do you like yourself and believe in yourself?
Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I want to kick myself in the teeth and say shut UP Rachel. Sometimes I think I'm pretty OK. Sometimes I think I'm hot stuff and a groovy chick and my husband is a very lucky man. But not very often.

x. Do transient, homeless, or starving people bother you?
This is a rather oddly-phrased question. It could be taken two ways. Does it bother me that people are transient, homeless, or starving? Well, yes. In some cases it bothers me that they would rather sit on a street corner with a cardboard sign than go apply for a job washing dishes at the restaurant down the street (but part of me says, hey, whatever works for them. Only part though). In other cases it bothers me that due to crop failure or famine or governmental idiocy or what have you, there are places where there just genuinely isn't enough for people to eat. The other way to take this question is, Am I bothered by the presence of a person meeting one of these descriptions in my general vicinity? Sometimes -- I have a low city-fear threshold -- but not usually.

x. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person?
Yes. Nice to a fault sometimes. I don't do confrontation well.

x. Do you spend more time with your boyfriend or your friends?
I don't have a boyfriend, I have a husband. And I do spend more time with him than with my friends.

x. What's one thing you wish you could do but can't?
ONE thing? Bring sanity and peace to the whole world. Hey, you asked.

x. What is your ideal marriage location?
I'm assuming this actually means wedding -- marriage is what exists after the wedding. I already did get married, in a church with the puffy-sleeved dress and satin-clad bridesmaids and the whole shebang. If I were getting married now instead of at the age of nineteen I'd probably do something lower-key, with less satin and fewer sequins and beads but still very formal, just more intimate. Maybe on the Queen Mary. Or in Yosemite.

x. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play?
I wish I'd kept up with the piano.

x. Favorite fabric?
Depends on my mood and the occasion. I like flannel for winter pajamas; t-shirt material for summer ones. Velvet for formalwear and white cotton and denim for casual clothes. Cotton socks, satin panties and bras.

x. Something you love and hate?
Keeping house. I'm so glad to be able to do it but I really dislike a lot of the daily-grind kind of jobs, like the everlasting laundry and dishes.

x. What kind of bedding do you use?
Cotton. Some white, some floral, some solids.

x. Do you tell your friends about your sex life?
Just the closest of friends, and even then I don't discuss everything.

x. What's one language you want to learn?
Spanish. It would be really practical in California.

x. What do you order at a bar?
I wouldn't know. Once I ordered a Shirley Temple at a bar. But that was when I was, what, sixteen? And it was the first and last time I ordered anything at one.

x. Have you ever pierced your body parts?
Ears. I've had one hole in each since I was six. At fourteen I got an extra set of holes which I used for about five years and then let close over. When I was sitting in Algebra II class my sophomore year, I made a third hole in each with a safety pin, but I never put anything in them and just let them close over right away.

x. Do you have tattoos?
No.

x. Would you ever admit to having done plastic surgery any kind if confronted?
Probably.

x. Do you drive stick?
I can, but right now we have automatics.

x. What's one trait you hate in a person?
Meanness. On purpose, causing others pain just for the sake of being mean, meanness.

x. What kind of watch(es) do you wear?
A six-dollar one from Wal-Mart. Leather band, cream-and-gold-and-black face.

x. Most frivolous purchase?
You know, I really can't think of one. Most of my frivolous spending (and I do plenty!) is on smallish stuff like diet Coke, or on restaurants. It's my husband who buys things and then keeps them for years while hardly using them.

x. Do you consider yourself materialistic?
No.

x. What do you cook the best?
I'm pretty good at a lot of things. Pancakes and eggs, chocolate chip cookies (I am the Jedi Master of chocolate chip cookies and I have never had ANY that I like better than mine), chicken parmigiana, chicken marsala, meatloaf, spaghetti (my own recipe which I developed over the course of a few years when I was in my late teens and early twenties).

x. Favorite writing instrument?:
Either the computer (ha!) or a nice sharp fine-point Bic, the clicky kind, not the lid kind, with a comfort grip.

x. Do you prefer to stand out or blend in?
Blend in. I'm all for being blendy.

x. What kind of books do you like to read?
The list of what I don't like to read is shorter -- that would consist of trash romance, science fiction, and uber-boring nonfiction -- although I love biographies and political science stuff.

x. If you won the lottery, what would you do?
Oh, man, is this not the most asked meme question EVER? Property and a house with a pool, new wing for the town library, new vehicles, blah blah blah.

x. What's one thing you're a sore loser at?
Arguing with my husband. It takes a few hours for me to get over it and make nice.

x. If you don't like a person, how do you show it?
Generally by avoiding him/her.

x. Do you cry in front of friends?
Yes yes yes.

x. What's one thing you like to do alone?
read? pee? bathe? lots of things.

x. Are you a giver or a taker?
Like most all moms, pretty much a giver by necessity if not otherwise.

x. When's the last time you cried?
hmm... I don't remember. It's been a while, probably a couple of weeks.

x. Favorite communication method?
e-mail

x. How many drinks before you're tipsy?
one. And I only know that based on experience from about thirteen years ago. I haven't tried since.

x. Do you ever have to beg?
for what? I have asked my parents for assistance on occasion since my marriage. I've begged my husband to take me out to dinner instead of having to cook.

x. Have you ever done any illegal drugs?
no.

x. Do you think you're cute?
Sometimes. Not usually.

x. Do you have problems changing clothes in front of friends?
Not really close friends.

x. What's the most painful experience you've ever had?
Physical: my third c-section. Emotional: the birth of my middle daughter.

Meme2:
Pick two of your absolute favorites for each category.
1. CD's:Evanescence, and the Mavericks "There Goes My Heart"
2. Movies: "Pride and Prejudice" and "Return to Me"
3. TV shows: Um, Jeopardy?
4. Actors: I never have really picked favorite actors -- as in, I will watch anything with X or Y in it. I tend to like movies with Mel Gibson, I guess.
5. Musicians/Singers: Vivaldi and Chanticleer
6. Books: Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice
7. Journals to read:Chez Miscarriage and The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. I so so so want to put more than two but I am limiting myself.
8. Places to eat:The Olive Garden and a local restaurant called The Red Fox
9. Websites:Eject! Eject! Eject! and the IMDB.
10. Drinks (non-alcoholic): Diet Cherry Coke and plain iced tea (VERY cold)
11. Snack foods: Pringles and peanut-butter Twix
12. Healthy foods: Caesar salad and grilled chicken
13. Holidays:Christmas and Thanksgiving
14. Movie soundtracks:"Pride and Prejudice" and "Shrek"
15. Cancelled TV shows: "Who's the Boss" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
16. Guilty Pleasures:Dreyer's ice cream and kid-lit
17. Pizza Toppings:Pepperoni and olives
18. Things to do on a Sunday afternoon:Take a nap and hang out with family