Grownup Meme

Courtesy of the Empress.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Every damn one of them.
2. Do you miss being a child?
Yes and no. I'm not thinking about it full-time, but yes, I have fond memories of childhood. Not so much adolescence. I wouldn't do that again for a million bucks.
3. Chore you hate the most?
Paying bills, I think. (See #1)
4. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
Likewise, not in this century. So long ago that I don't remember.
5. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
These days, I'm thinking it's that I would have been less short-tempered and snide to my mother.
6. Name of your first grade teacher?
Miss Croghan, whom I recall as a very young and very uptight anti-Semite. I can name all my elementary school teachers, and probably 7 - 12 as well. She's the only elementary school teacher I don't have fond memories of.
7. What do you really want to be doing right now?
I need to get my lunch together for tomorrow, and my clothes. What I want is to be blissfully asleep.
8. What did you want to be when you grew up?
After I got over the cowgirl phase, courtesy of the Mickey Mouse Club western days, the only thing I ever wanted to be was a teacher.
9. How many colleges did you attend?
Three. First two years undergraduate at the University of Maryland. Last two years undergraduate and second master's degree at Montclair State College (then)/University (now.) First master's degree (in library science) at Rutgers University.
10. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
I like the color (sage green) and it feels soft.
11. What are your thoughts on gas prices?
I rarely look at the prices. I need gas, so I get it, and I usually go to the station near my house where they've never lost my gas cap. (I've lost two of them at other stations.) In general, the prices are obscene.
12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
For the first alarm and the two following snoozes: NOOOOOOOOO!
13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Hmm. Probably, I hope I feel asleep right now.
14. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Let's see. I'm going to limit it to famous person currently living. Hmmm ... no, dead. Shakespeare.
15. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?
I've been in accidents, and all but one of those was someone else hitting me. Relatively little damage; I've never totaled a car. Does that count?
16. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
I'd like to, if I could. I used to think I would volunteer to read stories and entrtain children at the children's cancer center nearby. Now I'm thinking that I'd like to start by boxing and stocking items at the local food pantry.
17. Get up early or sleep in?
On school days, the first alarm goes off at 5:50 in the a.m. Otherwise, if I'm un-disturbed, I can sleep til a good 9:00 most days. It's delicious.
18. What is your favorite cartoon character?
It would certainly have to be Mickey Mouse. Quick Draw McGraw runs a close second.
19. Favorite thing to do at night with a guy/girl?
Like on a date? Wait, let me get in my time machine and go back and check.
20. When did you first start feeling old?
When I started to ache all over, and when my arms weren't long enough to hold a back as far as I needed it to be to read it.
21. Favorite lunch meat?
I like pastrami, but never have it for lunch. I like ham and sometimes bologna.
22. What do you get every time you go into WalMart?
I've only been in a Walmart once or twice in my life, and have no plans to go back.
23. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
No, not at all.
24. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
I like a lot of movies, and am not generally embarrassed about any of them. The other night I recorded Toby Tyler, or, Ten Weeks With the Circus, a Disney classic. (I had a tremendous crush on Kevin Corcoran.)
25. What's your favorite drink?
I love coffee. I'm also fond of root beer.
26. Who[m] from high school would you like to run in to?
Anybody? I don't think so.
27. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
CBS-FM, the New York City oldies station, for the last 30 years or so.
28. “Sopranos” or “Desperate Housewives?”
Neither, although I watched the first three and last three episodes of The Sopranos. I've never seen a minute of Desperate Housewives.
29. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
I can think of a few, but probably writing that "Dear John" letter to the Hubs when we were in college.
30. Do you like the person that sits directly across from/next to you at work?
No such person anymore. I wasn't so keen on the SCM, who retired in January. I will endlessly miss the Colleague, who used to be the library secretary.
31. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purposes?
No.
32. Last book you finished reading?
I don't even remember. Wait a minute ... it's been weeks, apparently. The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.
33. Do you have a teddy bear?
My old teddy bear, which my sister gave me for my 14th birthday, is around someplace. I do have some very old toys, but my babyhood stuffed animals are long gone. (I had a sock monkey named Jocko instead of an actual teddy bear, and a clown thing -- can't remember what those were called.)(A few minutes later: it was a Jingle Bell Jack that my mother made for me.)
34. One thing you couldn't live without?
At this point, probably medical attention.
35. Do you go to church?
Never, although it would be a synagogue for me, but not that either. I wasn't raised to.
36. How old are you?
56
37. Can you take apart a motor, put it back together, and have no extra parts?
Please. At one point, I could do all kinds of things with computers, but motors are not my friends.
38. Are you for or against the death penalty?
I'm going to go with against, although it does seem that there are some people who don't deserve to live after crimes they've committed. It just shouldn't be up to me, or anyone else, to make that judgement.
39. If there is a God and you could ask him/her one question what would it be?
I'm pretty sure there isn't. If I had that hypothetical opportunity, however, it would probably be "Why?"
40. Do you think it’s possible that there is life on other planets?
I'll use the empress's exact answer: Not only possible but probable.







watching FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #2128
READING: Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
READING: Reading Lolita in Teheran by Azar Nafisi

Meme.

This came from the empress. It's called The Truth Meme. (Sorry that the font came out so small. I don't know why that happens.)

1. Can you fill this out without lying? I don't see why not.
   
2. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? I think it was a mini-chocolate chip cookie.
   
3. Who was your last text message from? From K, the younger daughter.
   
4. Where was your default picture taken? Not sure what this means. Default? The one I show people to show them what I look like? Probably at someone's wedding within the last few years.
   
5. Last person you rode in a car with under the age of 20? There are no children anywhere at all in my family at this point. The last time was probably with my nephew Little K to a funeral a few years ago; he was probably about 16.
   
6. Name someone that made you laugh today? K. (Daughter, not nephew.)
   
7. How late did you stay up last night and why? I probably fell asleep last night around 3 a.m. That's just when I fell asleep.
   
8. If you could move somewhere else, would you? Maybe, if I won the lottery. I'd move to the town one town over, where my sister lives.
   
9. Ever been kissed under fireworks? I don't believe so. One of my very first dates with the Hubs right after high school was to see the July 4th fireworks, but there was no kiss until some time later.
   
10. Which of your FB friends lives closest to you? Hmm. Possibly my childhood next door neighbor, with whom I've recently re-established contact.
    
11. Do you believe exes can be friends? I have no personal experience with this one.
    
12. Calling or texting? Both, depending on the time and the situation.
    
13. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper? I like Dr. Pepper.
    
14. When was the last time you cried really hard? About a month ago. Maybe a little less.
    
15. Where is your biological father right now? His ashes are buried in the cemetery, in the same grave as my mother was buried (in the traditional fashion.)
    
16. Where are you at right now? At my desk in the family room.
    
17. Whose bed did you sleep in last night? I sleep on the couch in the family room every night. There's only room for one.
    
18. What was the last thing someone bought for you? I do not recall. A trinket of some kind -- gum or something -- from K, I would guess.
    
19. Who took your profile picture? The one on my Facebook page? (It's also on my blog page.) It's a sketch of me done by one of the other teachers at school.
    
20. Was yesterday better than today? Yes.
    
21. Can you live a day without TV? I always have the TV on, but I could certainly live without it.
    
22. Are you mad about anything? Yes.
    
23. Do you think relationships are really worth it? It would appear so.
    
24. When was the last time you were extremely disappointed and why? Last night, when I found out that K hadn't been called for an interview that she should have automatically gotten.
    
25. Are you a bad influence? I don't think so.
    
26. Night out or night in? I don't particularly enjoy being out at night.
    
27. What items could you not go without during the day? The basics: food, water. And lots of medication.
    
28. Would you share a drink with a stranger? I don't drink at all, so, no.
    
29. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? Ah. Can't think of anyone since my parents died.
    
30. What does the last text message in your inbox say? It says "Thanks".
    
31. How do you feel about your life right now? It's not such a great day, but in general, okay.
    
32. How many times have you been pulled over by the police? Four? Five? All of them for speeding, but I didn't get a ticket each time.
    
33. Do you hate anyone? I reserve hate for the biggies: Hitler, Pol Pot. But there are some people who have made me very sad today, and in whom I am very disappointed. (No one I'm related to.)
    
34. If we were to look in your inbox, what would we find? Emails regarding my various upcoming traveling plans, and a note from my friend the Chum, who is away for the summer.
    
35. Can you easily tell if someone's a fake? Probably not as well as I'd like to.
    
36. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Pass? Well, I haven't taken any illegal drugs, so I guess I would. But my blood would show a cornucopia of prescription medicines.
    
37. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? I highly doubt it.
    
38. What song is stuck in your head? "Lollipop, lollipop, oh, lolli lollipop"
    
39. Someone knocks on your window at 2 AM, who do you want it to be? An ambulance, becaue I'm having a heart attack if someone knocks on my window at 2 am.
    
40. Wanna have kids before you're 30? I had my first kid at 28, my second at 31.
    
41. Name something you have to do today. I had my nails done, and then went to Target.
    
42. Can you whistle? When I was a kid, I had a space between my two front teeth, and boy, could I whistle. But it was fixed when I was 12, so no whistling since then.
    
43. Do you sleep on your side, stomach, or back? Mostly on my back.
    
44. Do you think too much or too little? Waaaay too much.
    
45. Do you smile a lot? I think I smile a normal amount, but it probably doesn't look like I'm smiling to people around me because half my face is paralyzed. I actually only realized that this morning, that when I'm smiling, other people don't always know it.
    
46. Can you handle the truth? I hope so.
    
47. What was the last book you read? I just finished Hands of My Father, by Myron Uhlberg.
    
48. Is there something you always wear? I always have on my necklace and my wedding ring. Clothes? I almost always wear jeans, a tank or tee shirt, and a denim button down over that.
    
49. Honestly, who was the last person to tell you that they love you? K did, this morning.
    
50. Have you ever dyed your hair? I tried it for a year or two when the gray first started to show, but I gave it up. My hair is graying very nicely.
    
51. Are you wearing a necklace? Yes. I always wear a diamond circle pendant -- it looks like an engagement ring, with one bigger stone at one side -- that the Hubs gave me for our 30th anniversary.
    
52. What's something that can always make you feel better? Ah, let me think. Ice cream is always good. Thinking about happy childhood memories. Certain songs.
    
53. Will this weekend be a good one? God knows.
    
54. What do you want right now? Be less stressed.
    
55. Have you ever worn the opposite sex's clothing? Often. Men's shirts and pants sometimes fit me better.
    
56. Look behind you, what do you see? K, sitting on the couch, reading TV Guide.
    
57. Have you ever worked in a food place? No, and no one would want me to, either.
    
58. What would you name your future daughter? Aha! I already have two daughters, who already have names. If I had had a third daughter, I was partial to Amy.
    
59. What are your summer plans for 2009? Summer is half over, but I'm going to Disney World a week from Monday.
    
60. Does anyone know your FB password? No. I don't remember what it is either, but I have it written down.
    
61. Would you like some cake? Always. I would especially like some pie.
    
62. Did you lie in this quiz? I believe that I did not.
    

watching THE GILMORE GIRLS :: ENTRY #2096
READING: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Cubin' (and a Meme)

There is a group of boys who come into the library every day during first lunch and pull out Rubik's Cubes -- four or five in all -- and compete to see who can solve them the fastest. It took me months, until yesterday, to realize that the sporadic "crack!" I hear is them slamming the cubes onto the table when they finish. I asked them to quit that.

Otherwise, lunchtime in the library is generally a cacophony. Cacophany is an excellent word, and I'll tell you the first time I heard it. In 8th grade, we were in French class, where we had a delightful, if clueless, teacher who was herself, I believe, Egyptian-born. Madame Tomich, as I recall. Anyway, one day one of the boys in class let out a long, loud fart. It did nothing for the air quality in the room, but it was the sound that really drew everyone's attention, a sound that no teacher could just let pass by, so we knew that sweet, genteel Madame would have to say something. She did. In her quavery, French-accented voice, she said "Ooo la, quel cacophony!" We knew what she meant, of course, given the context, but we all begged her to translate that funny French word into English. She was so puzzled, and said several times that it meant "cacophony" and we would say, no, in English! How do you say that in English?" until she finally got across to us that it was the same word, English and French. And then, embarrassed, given the context, she had to tell us what it meant, and she couldn't believe that we didn't already know.

I was going to give you a little sample of the library cacophony at lunchtime, but I have to convert the file from the iPhone to, I don't know, something. For the future.

No news on the trip yet. I handed the ball off to the Sibs, who can be very good at putting the ball away in an unused closet and forgetting it's there, or that there's a game in play. I asked her to call the Cousin so the two of them could sort things out, but she hasn't, to my knowledge, and the Cousin is going to call me tonight or over the weekend. Uh, thanks. As for me, I'm could pack tonight for a moment's-notice trip to Disney World, if anyone's interested. Not that we're going tonight, anywhere, I'm just saying I'm ready. I have a list.

I saw a little meme over at k-lo's, and there's also this award thingy going around that the empress was kind enough to add my name to.

Its a Hubs/Wifey meme.

♥ What are your middle names?
I don't have one. His is Anthony.

♥ How long have you been together?
Married 33 years come July, together for two years before that.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met on the first day of high school, when we were in a class together. We Did Not Get Along. He was the only boy in high school I had the chutzpah to talk to, and all we did was argue with each other.

♥ Who asked who out?
We ran into each other one August evening, the summer after college graduation, at the town library. He asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink later.

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm 56. He'll be 56 in the fall.

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
I see my sister as often as I can. We see his sister at Christmas and Easter, and occasionally in between.

♥ Do you have any children together?
We have two fine daughters in their twenties.

♥ What about pets?
Our two little feline friends passed on two summers ago.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
We're not social people, so we are both unhappy at parties, and similar social situations. With each other, I think we don't communicate all that well all the time, but I don't know if he thinks so too (because of the communication problem.)

♥ Did you go to the same school?
High school, yes.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
We both grew up here in Bizarro Town. I moved here when I was 8, he's lived here since he was born.

♥ Who is smarter?
We used to argue about this in our early, lovey-dovey years. I said he was, he said I was. Aw.

♥ Who is more sensitive?
He is like a wall, mostly, but who knows what he could be hiding behind that? Could be him, but most likely me.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
A vegetarian Chinese restaurant near here.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Disney World, I think. He didn't like it.

♥ Who has the craziest exes?
Our exes are so far in the past that it's a subject that never comes up. But I did.

♥ Who has the worse temper?
He has a scary temper, when he lets it go. He breaks things. But mostly he takes his anger out on himself.

♥ Who does the cooking?
He cooks for himself. I mostly get take-out.

♥ Who is more social?
Neither one of is social, or wants to be.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
He is very, very tidy.

♥ Who is more stubborn?
Both of us.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
If anyone, he does.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
It was him for the first 30 years, but now it varies with the day.

♥ Where was your first date?
Our first attempt at a date was in our senior year of high school; we played tennis. Our first date after high school was to a movie, The Andromeda Strain. Our first real date was to a really nice restaurant/bar not far from here called The Iron Horse.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
We each have one sister. His sister has two children, mine has six (combined with her husband.) There is no one left in my parents' generation on my side, but they're all there on his.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Nevah! He knows that I'm allergic, and thoughtfully never brings me any.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Christmas and Easter with his side, Thanksgiving with mine.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
After he took me home from that first date out for a drink, I watched his car pull away from the curb and said to myself -- out loud -- "Oh my god! I'm going to marry him!" We both knew within two weeks that this was it.

♥ Who eats more?
He can pack it away, but no meat. I eat a lot of cheese and ice cream and stuff, which he also doesn't eat.

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
I do mine, he does his.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
I am probably, but only because I know about things that he doesn't care about and would never bother to learn.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
He does, usually, but if it's a short drive and we're going in my car, sometimes I will.


waiting for TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #2019
READING: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

But First ...

Meme from Mary

REAL NAME:
Ooh, I'm very careful with my real name online, mostly because I don't want to lose my job. I'll let this one go.

2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother's and father's middle names)
Edith Herbert

3. NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Sam Louis

4. STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Can Ro

5. DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Purple Dog

6. SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
Heidi Bronx

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav car, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Blue Tracker

8. FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Ca Ne

9.STREET NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Vanilla Oreo

10. SKANK NAME: (1st pet's name, street you grew up on)
Willie 33

11. GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of last name plus 'izzle')
Canizzle

12. YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Boo

13. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Vanilla Pez

(About the middle names: Neither my mother nor I were actually given middle names. Her mother told her when she was a kid that if she wanted one, she should just pick one, and since her middle name in Yiddish was the same as her cousin Edith's first name in Yiddish, and also she worshiped the ground Edith walked on, she picked Edith. When I was about six, my mother told me the same thing, and I had just read a children's edition of Heidi, so I picked that. It's not really middle name, but it's the closest I have to one.)

La la la, it's just a lazy day at home for me. It's over 60 degrees here today, but overcast, so not a nice day; rain coming later. The crocuses are blooming. Yesterday was just gorgeous, like a perfect spring day. I went out first thing in the morning in a tee shirt and zipped hoodie and came right back in and changed to a tank top and denim jacket. When I went out again later, I ditched the jacket, and just wore a denim shirt over the tank. That's my kind of weather.

Other than food shopping and one load of laundry, I've done very little today, which suits me just fine. I ditched that book I was reading, The Alchemyst, which I found to be poorly written YA standard stuff. In its place, I started The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which is just beautifully written. I'll let you know how far I get on that one.

R has convinced me to give The Watchmen another try, and suggested I download chapter one from iTunes, which is a "moving comic book"; as the panels are scanned, a voice reads the words. I certainly grew up immersed in comic books and I'm okay with graphic novels in general -- loved Persepolis -- but I found The Watchmen just too hard to read, too much going on at once, a graphic format I don't enjoy. I'll see if this is better, since I would like to read it.

And now my laundry is done, so I must go fold, and pick out tomorrow's clothes, and make tomorrow's lunch.



JEWS IN AMERICA on PBS :: ENTRY #2004
READING: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by Davbid Wroblewski

Trifecta

Today was the teacher's trifecta: a Friday, payday, and the day before a vacation.

This is how happy I am.

I am going to sleep late tomorrow, too.

And now, a meme. I yanked this from I Agree With Me. I think I've done some of these before, but not all of them; anyway, who can remember?

1. Do you like blue [sic] cheese? My favorite dressing. It's great with fried calamari.

2. Have you ever smoked? For a number of years. A big number, actually. But not anymore.

3. Do you own a gun? Heavens, no. Guns are for shooting people, something I have no intention of ever doing. If you are a hunter, it's a different story. I am not a hunter.

4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? I remember always begging my mother to buy this crap, but I don't remember getting it often. I do recall grape Fizzies, and something that I think was called Flav-a-Straw. I was also a fan of dissolving Pixie Stix in water and drinking that.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No. If I did, I'd be in a constant state of nervous wreck.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I generally like hot dogs, although they're not always good for me. Even as a kid, I always preferred hot dogs to hamburgers.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? I love It's a Wonderful Life and I love A Christmas Story.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I only drink coffee in the morning, caffeine when I can, but mostly decaf.

9. Can you do push ups? Nevah!

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? I appreciate jewelry but I am not into it, either owning it or wearing a lot of it. My normal daily jewelry is a plain wedding band, a utilitarian watch, diamond stud earrings (something less than a quarter carat each), and a chain with something on it. Currently, that's the lovely diamond ring pendant the Hubs gave me for our 30th last year. Before that, I wore my father's wedding band -- my half of it -- on a gold chain that was bought with the few hundred dollars my grandmother left me. That's my favorite piece of jewelry.

11. Favorite hobby? Doodling around on the computer, I guess, and TV.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? Probably not, but I think it's coming with the menopause.

13. What’s one trait you dislike about yourself? There's more than one, for sure, but I'm so much better than I used to be. Having said that, my worst trait is the ease with whichy I let myself slide into a state of low self-esteem.

14. Middle name: I didn't get one because my mother thought my first name was a) So beautiful! and b) Like two names in one! It never occurred to her that I would hate it and have no other options.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: 1) What a goofy name I have. 2) What freaks both of the families are on the Wife Swap episode that's on now. 3) I wonder when K is getting home from school?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? I drink coffee in the morning, water with lunch, and only iced tea when I'm home (unless it's the morning.)

17. Current worry? My primary worry has been money pretty much ever since I got my first job.

18. Current hate right now? Not so much hating these days.

19. Favorite place to be? Disney World.

20. How did you bring in the New Year? I was asleep.

21. Where would you like to go? Disney World.

22. Name three people who will complete this? Anybody who wants to.

23. Do you own slippers? I do, in fact, but I have never been a slipper-wearer until recently. If I owned slippers before in my life, I didn't wear them.

24 What shirt are you wearing? I'm wearing a pink Land's End tank under a navy zip cardigan.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Eww, ick.

26. Can you whistle? I could whistle when I was a kid because I had a space between my two front teeth. Once that was taken care of, no more whistling.

27. Favorite color? Purple.

28. Would you be a pirate? They didn't have that major at my college, but no.

29. Do you sing in the shower? Not intentionally, but I think I might sometimes.

30. Favorite Girl’s Name? Ahh. Not my own, certainly. The name I always craved for myself was Robin. I am also fond of Amy. But I don't know if I have a favorite.

31. Favorite boy’s name? I had decided at one point that my favorite boy's name was Thomas. About a month later, I started dating the Hubs, whose father's name is Thomas, and I was aware of the Italian custom that first sons are named after their father's father. I took it as a sign, although I never did have the son.

32. What’s in your pocket right now? I emptied my pockets before I sat down at my desk.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? I started reading a blog today called The Blog of Unnecesary Qutotations.

39. Do you have any pets? I still pine for my Boo and Q, the funny little cats that both died in 2007.

40. Does someone have a crush on you? I can't imagine who would.

41. Your favorite book? Not just one.

42. Do you collect anything? Oy. Books. DVDs. Little pocket-size books. Mickey Mice. Vera Bradley bags. Some old toys and other reminders of my childhood.

43. Favorite Sports Team? I was a big Yankees fan at one point, but nothing now.

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? It would be led off by the Mickey Mouse March (the theme song from the Mickey Mouse Club) and finished off with it, too. After that, I have a mix (which I call my Magic Mix) that includes the following:

• Circle, by Harry Chapin


• Morning Has Broken, by Cat Stevens


• I Want to Hold Your Hand, by the Beatles


• She Loves You, by the Beatles


• Here, There, and Everywhere, by the Beatles


• Take Me Home, Country Roads, by John Denver


• Matthew, by John Denver


• Rocky Mountain High, by John Denver


• Sweet Surrender, by John Denver


• Wouldn't It Be Nice? by the Beach Boys


• Chances Are, by Johnny Mathis


• Walking in the Rain, by Jay and the Americans


• Heat Wave, by Martha and the Vandellas


• The City of New Orleans, by Arlo Guthrie

WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #1986
READING: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Have you ever...?

Sad day at school today. Good day for a meme.

Taken from

[Have you ever...?]

Gone on a blind date? No.

Skipped school? Once or twice. My sister was the queen of the cutters, the local term for school skippers. I was a good girl.

Watched someone die? Yes, my mother.

Been to Canada? Twice, with a camp group when I was 14.

Been to Mexico? Once, with the whole family, including Uncle Sol, who was not the translator he thought he was. I was seven.

Been on a plane? More times than I would have liked.

Been lost? Hasn't everybody?

Been on the opposite side of the country? To California a few times, including one trip to northern California, which is pretty opposite, since I was on the coast of Maine a few weeks later.

Swam in the ocean? Again, more times than I would have liked, but not for many, many years.

Cried yourself to sleep? Probably, but not that I can recall.

Played cops and robbers? Oh, yes. And war, too, but since we would all be wearing our fathers' WWII uniform caps, the Nazis we fought were imaginary.

Recently colored with crayons? Yes, actually, a few months ago. I bought a small box of crayons, but printed out Internet pictures to color. I really should get a coloring book.

Sang Karaoke? I'm certain that I have never done this, or wanted to.

Paid for a meal with coins only? I'm sure I did this when I was a kid.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t many times? Uh ... yes ... I think.

Made prank phone calls? Not many, only when I was a kid, and I was terrible at it.

Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? Chocolate milk, as I recall. What's more likely to happen to me is that something will just tickle my sister and me the same way at the same time and we will laugh until we can't breathe. It happened several times when we were taking graduate classes.

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes, many times.

Danced in the rain? I don't know if I danced, but as a kid, I loved to play in the summer rain, so that includes running and skipping.

Written a letter to Santa Claus? Not me, no Santa Claus in my childhood.

Been kissed under the mistletoe? I don't think so.

Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? I don't think so.

Blown bubbles? Yes, of course. Both gum and soap.

Gone ice-skating? I could manage to stand on the ice on skates when I was a kid.

Been skinny dipping outdoors? Nevah.

Gone to the movies? Ever? Yes, of course.

Saved someone’s life? How can we ever really know if someone's life was saved because of something we did? But not specifically, like saving someone from choking, no.


1. Any nickname? Many people call me Ro.

2. Mother’s name? Shirl

3. Favorite drink? Iced tea. Formerly chocolate milk.

4. Any Tattoos? Only four. One on each wrist, and two near my right ankle.

5. Body piercing? Just ears, thank you.

6. How much do you love your job? Next question, please.

7. Favorite vacation spot? Disney World, of course.

8. Ever been to Africa? No, no desire to see any continents except North America, Europe, and Australia.

9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes. And ice cream, too.

10. Been on TV? I don't think so. But my sister was in the Peanut Gallery on the Howdy Doody Show once.

11. Ever steal any traffic signs? Not I. Only bricks and planks from a construction site to make shelves in my dorm room.

12. Ever been in a car accident? Several, none serious.

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? Four. I detest two-door cars.

14. Favorite Salad Dressing? Bleu cheese. Also a good honey mustard.

15. Favorite Pie? Key lime.

16. Favorite Number? 42

17. Favorite Movie? Tough choice, but I'll default to Casablanca.

19. Favorite Dessert? Key lime pie.

20. Favorite food? macaroni and cheese.

21. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.

22. Favorite brand of body wash? I use Dial liquid soap. I also have a Burt's Bees something, but I almost never remember to use it.

23. Favorite toothpaste? I like cinnamon toothpaste, but now I'm using some baking soda whitening stuff.

24. Favorite smell? In general, I like the smell of vanilla and cinnamon, but if I had to pick an all time favorite smell, it would probably be when we went to visit my Grandma Sadie and we came up her back stairs into the kitchen and smelled the chicken soup cooking on her stove.

25. What do you do to relax? I lie on the couch, wrapped up in a down throw, and watch TV or play with the iPhone or both.

26. How do you see yourself in 10 years? At 66? A grandmother, hopefully, certainly retired, and with any luck, not too sick or too poor.

27. How many siblings do you have? One.

28. Furthest place you will send this message? It goes everywhere, no?

29. Who will respond to this the fastest? No response necessary.

30. Who is your favorite dog of all time? Tough one, since I never had a dog of my own. I'll go with my sister's first dog, a lovable dumb big moosh of a Golden Retriever named Elsa.


WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS :: ENTRY #1978
READING: ---- by ----

For the Brain Impaired, A Meme

I couldn't think of anything tonight, so thanks for this, from the pages of Mary -- go read hers; it's better than mine.

All About Me

10 years ago: 1999. Coasting along, both kids at the high school with me. Hoping that R would do enough homework to get decent enough grades to get into college, knowing she had the brainpower to go to an Ivy, had she chosen that path.

8 years ago: 2001. Dissolving into the knotted stomach world of a dying mother and a kid with a longterm illness. (Viral fatigue syndrome kept her out of school, mostly, for the last year and a half of high school.)

6 years ago:2003. Both parents gone now, both kids away at college. Things were very peaceful.

2 years ago: 2007. Beginning of the end. My library was closing for six months, to be re-opened later in the pretty library from hell, so, essentially, the end of my actual career, even though I still work there.

Five Yummy Things

1. Macaroni and cheese


2. Coffee


3. Key lime pie


4. Being warm enough


5. Daniel Craig is nice too, but I'm a Patrick Stewart sort of gal.

Five Songs I Know By Heart

1. Almost everything by the Beatles


2. Alice's Restaurant (but I'd need to practice a bit first)


3. Who Put the Bomp?


4. The Lion Sleeps Tonight


5. Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, etc.


6. oh, and The Red River Valley, R's baby song

Five Places I'd Like To Escape To

1. Main Street, The Magic Kingdom


2. Parvin State Park, Salem, NJ


3. Squam Lake, NH


4. The Mayo Clinic


5. the past

Five Things I'd Never Wear

1. ditto Mary, a thong


2. ditto Mary, stillettos. Or any other shoes with heels


3. a midriff top


4. anything fluffy or with feathers, or for that matter, real fur


5. long, hanging earrings

Five Favorite TV Shows I'm guessing this means of the moment, and not of all time.

1. The George Lopez Show


2. Home Improvement


3. The Big Bang Theory (Everybody watch this; it's a pisser)


4. Law and Order


5. Countdown with Keith Olberman

Five Things I Enjoy Doing

1. Reading


2. Writing


3. Computer stuff


4. Shopping


5. Hanging out with my kids if they're not making me crazy

Five Favorite Toys

1. iPhone


2. Maxx the Mac


3. Wii


4. the cable DVR (video recorder)


5. my many Mickeys and other stuffed creatures, most recently Jock the Sock Monkey

WATCHING GEORGE LOPEZ :: ENTRY #1957
READING: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke

Time to Start Another One

Oh good, another smiley day.

I could review the year here -- ups, downs, ups -- but I'm going to post a New Year's-y meme in a minute, so I'll let that cover it. If anything holds true, it's that smiley days (literally, days that I smile more) are better than not-smiley days.

We have a couple of inches of snow today, not much, really, but it was enough for me to cancel my nails appointment and therefore not get dressed all day. I don't do that much. I also felt good enough to do the Wii Fit for the first time in a while, so that was good, too. R, a much more intrepid driver than I, came by for a bit, also good. And after I post this, I am going to amuse myself by sorting through my Vera Bradley bags, since the Hubs had given me two for Christmas that I already had and I exchanged them yesterday for three on sale, and so a happy Vera time will be had by me. Happy New Year, all.

From melanie, last week.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? I had two colonoscopies.


2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year? I didn't so much make New Year's Resolutions as much as I made Living the Rest of My Life With Crohn's Disease Resolutions. So far, so good.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.


4. Did anyone close to you die? No.


5. What countries did you visit? Just this one, unless you count the former Confederate States of America.


6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Health.


7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 7, the day I got my diagnosis.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Going back to work after I was out for a month.


9. What was your biggest failure? Losing my temper and letting other people's actions depress me.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Boy, did I.


11. What was the best thing you bought? The iPhone. I love my iPhone.


12. Whose behavior made you appalled or depressed? I had a blow-up with my vice-principal that wasn't good for me, or probably her. I was both appalled at and depressed by my own reaction to her behavior.


13. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mine. When I went to speak to the v.p. and clear the air, I felt very proud of the way I behaved.


14. Where did most of your money go? The single biggest chunk went to the kid's graduate school tuition.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The election.


16. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    a. happier or sadder? Happier.
    b. thinner or fatter? Fatter.
    c. richer or poorer? Poorer.


17. What do you wish you'd done more of? Exercise, I guess.


18. What do you wish you'd done less of? Spend time in the bathroom.


19. How did you spend Christmas? At home Christmas Eve, with the in-laws Christmas Day.


20. Did you fall in love in 2008? No.


21. How many one-night stands? Oh, please.


22. What was your favorite TV program? The George Lopez Show.


23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No. I didn't hate anyone last year either. I try to reserve hate for Hitler or Pol Pot or the like.
    


24. What was the best book you read? I loved all of Fannie Flagg's books.


25. What did you want and get? Two new tattoos in honor of surviving the Crohn's ordeal.


26. What did you want and not get? Can't think of anything.


27. What was your favorite film of this year? I don't think I went to the movies once.


28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 55. I was just starting to recover, and I left the house for long enough to go buy a new TV.


29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? To have the money situation under control.


30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?> I wear whatever keeps my boobs under wraps.


31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I'm not sure what we mean by fancy, but the most fascinating was Barack Obama.


32. What political issue stirred you the most? The election.


33. Who did you miss? My parents, always.


34. Who was the best new person you met? The kid's new boyfriend. Fingers crossed.


35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Whatever will be, will be.


36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
    
    Que sera, sera.
    Whatever will be, will be.
    The future's not ours to see.
    Que sera, sera.

WATCHING TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON :: ENTRY #1952
READING: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke

Snow Day/No Day

I got the call at six this morning that we would be having school, but an early dismissal. Within minutes, I realized that this was a day I should not be going far from my own personal bathroom, so I called in sick and stayed home. K was home -- her semester ended last night -- and the Hubs has been working from home, so I didn't have to worry about anyone out driving. In fact, no car has been moved from our driveway all day. And R comes home from the city by train, so really, a worry-free day for me. I never even got dressed, took a couple of naps, and have just been like Elsie, you know, a contented cow, all day.

So what is there to write about? I thought I'd fill in some of the details of the meme from the other day. For one, I realized that I had forgotten to bold one. When I was in ninth grade, I taught myself Esperanto from a book. I didn't retain it, of course, because there's no one anywhere who speaks Esperanto so you can really claim it as a language you know, but I did learn it.

I was surprised to see how few other people had walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty, but I guess it would be more common for people who live where I do. When my kids were little, my friend the Other Chai and I did many things together; her son is only three weeks younger than R. When the big kids were about five, so K was about two, we decided to go to the Statue of Liberty. While we were waiting on line for the elevator, she said to me "We're walking to the top, right?" and I said "Uh ... okay." So we did. The two five year olds were delighted, and K was pretty good, but as we got higher and higher, I started to wheeze and the Other Chai started to pant, and I said "Oh, did I tell you I just found out I have asthma?" and she said "No, did I tell you I just got over bronchitis?" Anyway, we made it to the top and then turned for the other stairway to go down, and K took one look at the narrow winding iron stairs and refused to move. Ultimately, I came down the stairs backwards, my hands around her middle, supporting her from step to step. I could hardly walk for the next week. Fun.

I only hitchhiked once in my life. My roommate and I had walked about a mile from our dorm to play mini-golf on a hot day, and she convinced me to hitchhike back because we were both exhausted. We were picked up in a car, both having to sit on the front seat next to the driver, a huge, bearded man. It was a very short drive; he said he knew where our dorm was and would take us there. Then in a very creepy voice he said something like "It's dangerous to hitchhike, you know." I slid a little closer to Sue in the passenger seat. And then he went on, with something like "Girls like you really shouldn't hitchhike" and I thought "Oy, I'm never going to see my parents again and they were right." And then Sue nudged me and I looked on the backseat and saw a gun there. The driver pulled right up to the dorm and as we were about to get out on shaky legs he said "Wait a minute" and I turned and looked at him for the first time, and he said "Don't you remember me?" I looked again, and said "Rich?" and he laughed. He was a friend of my boyfriend; I had met him once, and he was a campus cop. He told us that he made a practice of picking up girls who were hitching and scaring the crap out of them so they would never do it again. And we never did.

I saw Niagara Falls when I was around 14. I went to a summer teen program that was all day trips, and one "day" our trip was that we got on a train around nine p.m., were on the train all night to Niagara, got out and spent the day there, then took another night train home. There was no sleeping on this train, I tell you, but the falls were cool.

I never sold Girl Scout cookies as a kid; my troop always sold calendars instead. But I was certainly immersed in cookies up to my ears when my girls were Scouts.

My sister and I once took our kids to DC for a few days, and we were at the Lincoln Memorial when an incredible storm came up, and we were trapped for an hour or more in that inspirational marble cave while the skies thundered above us, and every so often, lighting lit up the reflecting pool in front of us. It was awesome. I also remember being at the Lincoln Memorial holding my grandfather's hand when I was two or three. I've seen it many times; it's always inspirational to me.

Caviar? You can get it at the supermarket. (Not good cavier, but caviar.) It's like every once in a while, you need to give your kids ice cream for dinner. Once every few years, buy a little jar of caviar just for the hell of it.

I had chickenpox when I was four. My sister got it, so my mother drew a bath and put us both in together. She figured getting it over with for both of us at once would be the easiest way, and she was probably right.

Met someone famous? I spoke to some interesting people on my school trips to DC when i was in high school -- Adam Clayton Powell and Mike McCormack -- and I've seen famous people at the malls here: Abe Vigoda in a restaurant I was eating in, Gordon from Sesame Street shopping. I also once saw Gordon running in the park. I was buying ties once at Bloomingdale's next to Alan Alda, whom R has now personally met and spoke to many times at work.

I was in a car accident once that involved us suing the other driver, but it didn't go very far, as I recall.


WATCHING FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #1943
READING: Slam by Nick Hornby

Puzzle Pieces

Instead of writing my normal whiny long entry at school today, I kept writing bits and emailing them to myself so that I could post them later. Which I will now do, and when they're all here -- there are four of them -- I'll see if they make any sense.

The Nickname Game

Poolie played the game where you use a nickname you once had and Google-image it and post the first thing that comes up. As I wrote in her comments, I opted out, because the nickname of my young childhood was Bushie. My sister called me that from the time I was born until I was about five. Her only explanation ever was that when I came home from the hospital -- she was four and a half -- my hair stuck up straight on my head and it looked like a bush to her. So, okay.

My father adapted the nickname Sweetie Pie to my name and called me Sanny Pie (that s is a z sound). So I'm not finding pictures of that one, either. Or of my sister's adaptation of that to her nickname for me in my teen years, which was E-Pie.

The nickname of my adult life, which is used by virtually everyone except my sister and her family (and never by my parents either) is Ro, which works for me. Everyone in the ILs family calls me that, and a whole lot of people at work. Funny, I always wanted a decent nickname when I was a kid (instead of the goofy ones I had, although I liked those at home), and I would never .... NEVER answer to Rosie. It makes my skin crawl.

So, no pictures, just a handful of goof.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So, I went to the office to talk to the principal this morning but he wasn't in yet. I asked his secretary if he would be out today but she didn't know. I asked her to call me as soon as he came in. Did you get a call? I didn't get mine.

But I went there a couple of periods later, and he sees no reason my desk cannot be moved, says getting the computer and telephone drops are no big deal, and so on. All I have to do is email him a list of what I need (which I did the second I got back to the library) and he'll try to get it done the first week in January. !!!!!!!!!!

He also said that he only has five applicants for the librarian's job and none of the them look great, so we'll be hiring someone as a long-term sub to fill out this year, and most likely we'll be looking again for the real thing for next September. It's okay with me. What I want, though, is to switch to the early shift, so he'd better get someone who's going to fill in the half hour after school until the late person comes in from 3:00 to 5:00.

In the meantime, I've been cleaning out the shelves behind my desk, which I will miss (the only thing I'll miss about this location), but I'll make do and I'll make something else out of that space. It already looks like I'm moving tomorrow.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have been picking up all kinds of green habits lately. Not that we haven't been recycling since day one; the Hubs pulls the labels off of cans and recycles them with the paper (before he tosses the cans into the co-mingled) for years and years. I've been good, but not that good. Oh, I stopped running the water while I brush my teeth when I was a teenager, I always check the water level in the washer, and I almost always wash in cold water. I don't know what got me started these last few months, but I'm making an effort.

The first thing I did was get an aluminum water bottle and stop using plastic toss-aways. Then our town started taking all kinds of plastic, not just some kinds, in the recycling, so I'm rinsing out all kind of things and putting them there instead of throwing them away. So I thought I could start recycling plastic forks and spoons, which, I'm ashamed to say, I'm a big user of.

(As an aside, you know, I have a very small kitchen and no dishwasher, so I've been a huge fan of the disposable plates and cutlery for a long time.)

And now I'm recycling the paper plates, too. Of course, it's becoming pretty clear that if I'm going to be washing off paper plates and plastic forks so I can recycle them, it makes much more sense just to use real plates and real forks. So now I'm there, too.

I usually bring a second cup of coffee to work with me in the morning in a small aluminum thermos, but today I wanted to stop and get some Dunkin, and I found myself bringing a travel mug with me so I wouldn't have to throw away a paper cup with a plastic lid. (Oh, I've also started using a real mug for my morning coffee at home instead of a paper cup. I am no longer the best customer in Costco's paper goods aisle.) Turns out I don't want to carry my thermos every day, and I don't want to stop at Dunkin everyday, either. I need to be able to make myself a cup of coffee in the library. (They make one pot of decaf every day in our cafeteria, and when it's gone, it's gone.) So last night I ordered this from Amazon. This is either going to be very cool or very weird. I can buy loose coffee at Dunkin and use that -- yum -- and I have a microwave so I can boil water, which I'll have to bring in a big bottle of. (Still working that part out.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Storm's a-Comin'

It's beginning to look a lot like snow for tomorrow. There's a winter watch, or whatever they call it, for 6 am tomorrow to midnight, with a possible accumulation of 12 inches. So that would be a good bit of snow. The question is, if the roads are clear at six, will they call off school, knowing that possibly they will have to close school early and that people will have trouble getting home? The FIL, who used to be the one who made these decisions, would always say that closing school early was a problem because it would be dangerous for the little kids to walk home. Well, yeah, but his background is elementary, so I always think that the sooner we get the inexperienced drivers from the high school off the road and home, the better it is. And hardly any kids walk to and from school anymore, and if they do, their parents are walking with them.

Anyway, a snow day would be reeeeeaallly nice, because clearly, I never want to go to work, but I'm being cautious about my sick days at this point. Aside from the new drivers among the students, there are so many teachers who live an hour or more away -- why they do that I do not know -- and in places where the weather is worse, and sometimes they actually don't get the call that school is closed until after they've left home. The bottom line is that if the roads look bad, or you think they'll get bad, you need to stay home, even if you're a first year teacher, because it's smarter than being a last year human being.

The sun is actually out now -- it's about 2 pm -- for maybe the first time this week. How deceptive. I wonder what I'll wake up to tomorrow.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There ya go, a day's worth of random thoughts. Oh, get this: I actually cooked dinner tonight for myself and my husband. I don't think he's eaten a real meal I've cooked in a dozen years. It was a test run for Christmas Eve dinner, and came out well. Go me.

WATCHING FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #1943
READING: Slam by Nick Hornby

More Memish Than Sleepy

From bluesleepy.

I like this meme, but more Britain and less continent would have worked better for me.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (and DisneyWorld)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (from London to Brussels)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (by accident - I lack math skills)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (lots, in fact)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life Do we ever really know?
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day


WATCHING FRIENDS :: ENTRY #1942
READING: Slam by Nick Hornby

Not Up to Snuff

I"m just not right today. My head is heavy, and I feel sleepy, like I did yesterday, even though I've slept well the last two nights. I'm guessing it's an allergy or sinus thing. I left work a little before eleven, when today's testing was done, and came home and slept for three hours. K even came in and checked on me! (If that's not a mother's revenge, I don't know what is.) Anyway, I don't feel worse now, but not all that better. Reading makes my head spinny, so I'm not doing that, and obviously not the Wii Fit either.

I did finish The Secret Life of Bees last night, and why oh why did no one ever tell me how wonderful it was? Next up is The Memory Keeper's Daughter, but not tonight. I also just got some Nick Hornby; I liked About a Boy, which I read this summer.

So not much more for me tonight, although I'll leave you with this that our school nurse sent around today; I usually don't go in for the sappy stuff, but I thought this was good. There was also a picture, which didn't copy over, and some stuff about God, which I took out because it's fine without it.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING


A message every adult should read because children
are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.


When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of
your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don't.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.


When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.


When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.


When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say,' Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.'

WATCHING WIFESWAP :: ENTRY #1927
READING: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Peer Pressure

I'm not terribly conversational tonight, but I have succumbed to peer pressure and have taken this quiz, or meme, or whatever it is. I suppose the answer is correct. After all, I do have the title of one of her biggest hits tattooed on my arm.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Doris!

You are a Doris -- "I must help others."

Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.


• * Share fun times with me.


• * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.


• * Let me know that I am important and special to you.


• * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships

• * Reassure me that I am interesting to you.


• * Reassure me often that you love me.


• * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Doris

• * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends


• * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better


• * being generous, caring, and warm


• * being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings


• * being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor

What's Hard About Being a Doris

• * not being able to say no


• * having low self-esteem


• * feeling drained from overdoing for others


• * not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish


• * criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should


• * being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them


• * working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings

Dorises as Children Often

• * are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism


• * try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding


• * are outwardly compliant


• * are popular or try to be popular with other children


• * act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention


• * are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)

Dorises as Parents

• * are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)


• * are often playful with their children


• * wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"


• * can become fiercely protective

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

WATCHING TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #1891
READING: How to Rig an Election by Allen Raymond

A Meme!

I'm just sitting here waiting for Keith Olberman to come on so I can make myself more crazy over the election, so I thought I'd distract me by doing this meme that Mary just posted. And even though I don't have a terrible cold like she does -- feel better soon! -- I thought I'd keep it in the same vein, so here goes:

Here are the official rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, Seven Sick Facts About Me

1. I was born during a January blizzard, and my mother caught a cold in the labor room, so I had some horrible illness when I was two weeks old. The doctor didn't give it a name, but it was probably bronchitis. He told my father that he was going to give me a massive dose of penicillin, which would probably cure me, but if was allergic to penicillin, I would most likely die, and there was no way to test me at that point. You know how it turned out.

2. The general practitioner whose office was on the ground floor of our apartment building in the Bronx -- Dr. Levine -- had served with my father during the war in Europe, where my father, who outranked him, commandeered his jeep because he needed it to scout out some area they were moving into. The doctor hated my father after that and wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the war, but saved my life eight years later anyway.

3. When I was a kid, I was always kind of sniffling hard and swallowing, and when I was in my twenties, I heard about something called "post-nasal drip" and it freaked me out because I had really thought that everybody did that, had that sense I had of something running down the back of the throat. I was astonished to learn that this was not a universal human phenomenon, since I had never lived a day without it.

4. I never had real allergies -- other than the drip -- until about a year after we moved into this house, so that was about 22 years ago. I didn't have them as a kid, I just had colds all the time. Hmm.

5. I don't remember ever having an ear infection as a kid, or sinus problems.

6. My father had some odd notion, at least as I recall, that nose drops were supposed to go down your throat. Or maybe I just remember them going down my throat after he put them in my nose. All I really remember is that if they wanted to give me nose drops, it took both of them to catch me and hold me down, and they were always administered by Jack.

7. When we had colds, Shirl would set up a humidifier in our room -- the vaporizer, she called it -- that made horrible noise all night, and had a big green glass tank with a little cup on top to hold the Vicks. We were strictly warned not to get out of bed because if we did, we would trip over the cord and bring scalding water down on ourselves and have to go to the hospital and be treated for burns. I was also a bed wetter, and now you know why.

Okay, Keith time. (Oh, if you want to do the meme, consider yourself tagged. It's not necessarily a sick meme, I was just inspired.)


WATCHING FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #1885
READING: Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis

Movies and Me and the Meme

There's a great movie meme going around, and I've been wanting to do it, but trying to come up with a definitive list of my favorite ten movies makes my brain hurt. So I'm going to share ten memorable movie-going experiences, since that seems to be part of it, too. These are all in the theatre movies, although of course I've seen some on TV in the years since. I may have shared some of these stories in the past. And I've got eleven.

1. Around the World in 80 Days - This was released in 1956, but I think I saw it a year later when it was re-released, so I was four. The family was away on vacation at a hotel in the Catskills (mountains in New York state where there are a lot of resorts) and we all went to see this one rainy Sunday afternoon. All through the movie, I kept telling Shirl that I was sick, and she kept shushing me. When we got back to our room, I had a fever of 104, and spent the rest of the vacation in bed.

2. Old Yeller - 1957 - Jack took me to see this at the Queen Anne Theatre in Ridgefield Park. I remember going and seeing the movie, but I don't remember seeing the end, and I've never watched it again. What I remember most about the day is having to pee and Jack having to take me into the men's room.

3. Sleeping Beauty - 1959 - The first Disney movie I remember seeing in a theatre, also at the Queen Anne. I was 6; I went with my friend Lori, who was 4, and her father. When the wicked queen turned into the dragon, I was scared to pieces, and was very jealous of Lori who climbed right up into her dad's lap, but I was on my own.

4. Sink the Bismarck! - 1960 - Also at the Queen Anne, which years later became a porn theatre. Anyway, this is my first memory of going to a movie without my parents. My sister took me, along with a friend her age and his younger sister. I was 7, so I'm sure I went with the Sibs alone before, but this is the first memory I have of it. A year later, we moved to Bizarro Town, and I started going to the Saturday afternoon movies with just friends right away.

5. My Fair Lady - 1964 - When this first came out, it was being shown in a very fancy theatre in New York City, like a Broadway play, and OldFriend's parents got tickets for opening week. We had to dress up, and wear white gloves and black maryjanes and the whole thing. I remember seeing limos dropping people off at the front, and Mr. O. (as we called OldFriend's dad) bought us each a hardcover program all about the movie.

6. A Hard Day's Night - 1964 - It was in the summer; Lori and I and her cousin Donna, who lived with them every summer, went every day to the town day camp, which was really somebody babysitting groups of kids at the town pool; we all hated it. Anyway, we came home one afternoon and were informed by Shirl and Doris (Lori's mom) that they were taking us to see A Hard Day's Night at the Paramus drive-in! And may I add !!!!!!!!!!!!! The three of us started screaming and did not stop until the movie was over, even though it rained through most of it. It was sublime.

7. Romeo and Juliet - 1967 - My high school best friend and I ordered tickets and went into the city to see this on a school vacation right after it opened. The theatre was right next to the Plaza Hotel. The entire audience was composed of 14 to 16 year old girls; we all sighed and sobbed in complete unison, and were all delighted at the sight of Leonard Whiting's exquisite behind.

8. Easy Rider - 1969 - The Warner, in Ridgwood. It was Christmas Day, the same high school friend and I were literally the only two people in the theatre. Just before the movie started, the Star Spangled Banner started to play. This was extremely surreal, and we looked around in the dark for some kind of explanation, but finally we just stood up and waited until it was over and then watched the subversive movie.

9. Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange - 1975 - WORST DOUBLE FEATURE OF ALL TIME, CASE CLOSED. The Hubs and I saw this on a date at the Oakland Duplex. I had my hands over my eyes through both movies.

10. Star Wars - 1977 - At the Warner in Paramus on Rte. 4. I had just started teaching in February, and one of the kids who hung out in the library told me about this incredible movie, which was already getting lots of hype, but he was telling me how it looked like an action film but was really about the classic struggle between good and bad, and all the mythic archetypes in it, so one Sunday morning, the Hubs and I went to see it. Well of course the place was full of screaming kids and we walked out of there thinking "Eh." When we saw it again, we got it. Also, when it was re-released a year or so later, I took eldest nephew to see it at the Paramus drive-in, his first movie ever.

11. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 1977 - Somewhere in Paramus with the Hubs. I totally loved this movie. On the way home, I kept my eyes on the sky, as if I was looking for the mother ship to land in New Jersey.

WATCHING YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN :: ENTRY #1860
READING: The Professor and the Madman by ??

Music and Meme

I have a bazillion random things in my head that I was going to write about, but I'll just calm them down with this little meme from John, although I won't do it quite as well as he did. Name "three concerts I’d dearly like to have attended."

Tops on my list is a very easy question. I wanted to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium. I mean, I really really really wanted to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium. I was 12 years old, so going there on my own was out of the question, although my friend Jessica's parents would have had no problem with her making the bus and subway trip to Queens on her own. (She had been traveling like that to piano lessons in Queens since she was five, with her eight year old sister. Yes, from New Jersey.) Jessica and I called the stadium on the day of the concert and found out that there were still tickets and they were very affordable. My sister was 17, and had a boyfriend with a car. They had to take us.

As you might gather, they didn't. I begged and pleaded. We were going to pay for their tickets, of course, and all the gas and tolls. My sister finally said that if I could make myself cry real tears, they would do it. I did. They didn't. I still remind her of this occasionally, especially when I'm trying to get her to do something for me.

#2: Like John, I always wanted to see Simon and Garfunkel. I saw Paul Simon in D.C. in 1973 or 74, when There Goes Rhymin' Simon was just coming out. It was the first stop on his tour, so we heard all these songs before anyone. It was fabulous. Years later, he was doing a three night gig in New York; this must have been 1978 or so, and there were rumors that Artie would come out and play with him one of the nights. The Hubs and I went with the Sibs and her first husband; I believe we went to the first and third nights. Artie showed up on night two. Bummer. But Paul Simon gave a helluva concert.

#3: Bob Dylan. Except this one sort of doesn't count. I don't remember when it was, after R was born at least, and the Hubs and I went to a Dylan concert in west Jersey. It was at some kind of very muddy campground, and everywhere we looked there were Hell's Angels. We had second row seats, so we were expecting a great show, at least. Unfortunately, there was a Hell's Angels sized amp on the stage, right between Bob and us, and the acoustics in the tent were terrible. (And you really need good acoustics for Bob Dylan, because, let's face it, age has no been kind to his voice.) We were there, we heard some stuff, we never saw him. And like the Beatles, although for different reasons, it's a little too late now.

And not quite a concert at the time, but one night when I was in college, two friends and I drove around for hours and hours, looking for a little club called, really, The Joint in the Woods, because one of the friends wanted to see this guy who was playing there who used to play at his high school dances down at the shore, and he was going to be big someday! We never found the Joint, but eventually, we got to hear Bruce Springsteen play anyway.

Although I was never a huge concert goer, I was lucky enough in my day to see Harry Chapin (a helluva performer), Bruce Springsteen (when he was just hitting the big time), Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (at their first show in Asbury Park in years, a knockout show, and none of you ever heard of him), and finally, last year, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. I had seen all four of them before, but never together; it was like heaven in a time machine, man. And I've seen the Moody Blues too many times to count.

Perhaps I'll rant tomorrow.


WATCHING MURPHY BROWN :: ENTRY #1839
SUMMER BOOK #7: My Life in France by Julia Child

And a Couple of Memes

Wow, feeling much, much better after a couple of icky tummy days. And just when I was letting go of the whole grandchild thing, I ran into someone today, a former student, a former member of my scout troop, her mother and I were preggo together, so she's R's age, and she had her second adorable little baby with her, this one nine weeks old. But knowing her, it made me remember why it was important to her to have children right away, even after a fabulous college education and being a wonderful inner-city elementary teacher. To each his own, and I guess it really is way too early for mine. Moving on.

Anyway, I've latched onto two memes today, so let's see how that goes. The first one is from Poolagirl.

What is your name?




What is your favorite food?



Which school did you attend?



and



What is your favorite color?



Who is your favorite celebrity?



What is your favorite beverage?



What is your ideal holiday adventure?



What did you want to be when you were growing up?



What is your favorite dessert?



What do you value most in life?



What one word describes you?



What is the name of your journal?





And this one from Miz Robyn:

Inquiring minds want to know, every day do you…

1. Shower? Morning or night? Morning. I need to get up and get into the shower before I think about it, or I'll put it off. If I shower at night, it wakes me up and I can't fall asleep.

2. Wash your hair? In the summer, I wash my hair every other day, which I think is healthier for me, but during the school year I have to wash it every day in order to look human.

3. Shave? Not as often as I used to, maybe every two weeks? My grandmother once famously said "I shaved under my arms once, and it never grew back!" Yeah, well, she was from the old country and shaved for the first time when she was maybe 65 -- my mother forced her to, if she was going to wear sleeveless -- and I guess it didn't grow back. That whole issue seems to be fading along with the estrogen.

4. Wear make-up? (If yes, what does that include?) Every day when I go to work, but I don't always bother if I'm not going anywhere. I am a Bare Escentuals addict, soup to nuts.

5. Spend a lot of time doing your hair? Five to ten minutes, if that. I would spend more time if it would improve the outcome, but I'm just not gifted that way.

6. Do you wear perfume? If so, what kind? NEVER! NEVER!!! I am allergic to most perfumes; I wish nobody would wear them ever, ever, ever!

7. Other than wedding/engagement rings, what jewelry do you wear? I don't wear my engagement ring daily because it's a little fragile and it doesn't go with any wedding band I have, really. I wear a wedding band, a Mickey Mouse watch, diamond stud earrings, and a lovely diamond ring/circle thing around my neck that the Hubs gave me for last year's 30th anniversary.


WATCHING L/O :: ENTRY #1832
SUMMER BOOK #6: Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert