sueeeus

99 things meme

Making the rounds; this time from Suse…
Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars.

3. Played in a band. Concert bands count, right?

4. Visited Hawaii. Not particularly impressed.

5. Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.  If I gave it, then I afforded it.  ???

7. Been to Disneyland/world.

8. Climbed a mountain.   (It was small, as mountains go.)

9. Held a praying mantis. (It was on a leaf –does that count?)

10. Sang a solo.  (sans audience!)

11. Bungee jumped.  No freakin’ way.

12. Visited Paris.  Twice!

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. I teach myself almost everything from scratch.

15. Adopted a child. Started the process then got knocked up!  May still do it.

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.  Was rudely ‘toed’ by some horny Italian.

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.  Only in a small town with people I knew.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.  We can take them if our kids are ill, or if we have medical appointments…

24. Built a snow fort.

25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping.

27. Run a marathon.  Are you crazy?

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.

29. Seen a total eclipse.  Not directly of course – didn’t want to burn the retinas!

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.  A smattering of Greek and some French.

37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.   Is there such thing as enough?  Hello, I’m married to Mr. Gadget.  There will never be enough to satisfy him.  I, however, feel just fine right now.  But I wouldn’t mind a gourmet kitchen with a huge pantry, a laundry room with space to fold clothes and not get stuck between the wall and the door of the washer, and a big shower with built in seating…

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.

41. Sung Karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. No, but tried to give away an untouched meal to about three homeless people on my way from a restaurant, and was turned down.   Apparently something to do with spicy food?  Or they just wanted money.  Hrumph.

44. Visited Africa.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.

47. Had your portrait painted.  Does a badly executed self portrait count?

48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistene chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.   Just looked at it.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.  Mexico.

52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.  All summer long!  Until they shut it down, we will keep on going as often as we can!

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.  Need to go again, because we didn’t see any!

63. Gotten flowers for no reason.

64. Donated blood.

65. Gone sky diving.  Lunacy!

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.

67. Bounced a cheque.

68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.   No, but I’ve been entrusted with my mother’s favorite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar. Fish eggs.  Blech!

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 Guard 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. Got as far as Corinth!

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.  Do fish and crab count as animals?

88. Had chickenpox.  Luckily, I developed immunity anyway.

89. Saved someone’s life.

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. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.

97. Been involved in a law suit.

98. Owned a cell phone.

99. Been stung by a bee.

A must, according to Suse.

…Elinor Dashwood!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

Inspired by Suse…

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

You can play too.

1. Contribution :: to humanity
2. Ryan :: O’Neal
3. Minimal :: amount of effort
4. Cleansed :: and refreshed
5. Centered :: and alive
6. Arrow :: broken
7. Beyond :: all reason
8. Execute :: kill
9. Intuition :: faith
10. Apology :: sorrow

Well, I have an abundance, or overabundance of feelings, but I don’t feel like writing about them right now.  At least not publicly.  Which isn’t meant to sound as though there’s anything mysterious going on, because there’s not.  It’s all just blah blah blah blah blah.

Well, I was up half the night tending to a child exploding from both ends.  Poor little guy.  Carpet cleaner and washing machines were both running in the middle of the night, and the house, it does not smell good.

The nice door to door religious people have been by again.  The JWs are especially nice, and I like them, but never invite them in.  The LDS boys are nice too, and they come because Mr. Gadget is on THE LIST.  I don’t let them in either.  I am so rude.  I don’t know what it is with them and keeping track of their people.  It drives me bonkers.  Actually, I sort of know, after reading on several ‘recovering from M’ sites, but don’t have the energy to get into it, and religion is just one thing that I can’t discuss reasonably with MG, so we just let our differences be.  Long and tiring story.  I will say that it really bothered me when his mother added me to their official genealogy.  I did NOT want to be on their list.  It’s so hyppocritical, anyway.  MG’s biological father is not on their list, because she’s ashamed that she got knocked up while separated from her husband.  So.  Hrumph again.  She got my middle name completely wrong, and I haven’t corrected her.  Parnath.  Who ever heard of Parnath   And how could she get that from my name   It beats me.  Parnath it is, as far as the LDS are concerned, and that’s okay with me.

I don’t particularly like the door-to-door conversion pushing experience.  Not that I have anything against the pushers.  I was once very zealous and pushy myself, but have learned that people aren’t receptive to that.  So I back off.  I try not to consider myself lukewarm.  I’m just not actively evangelizing or proselytizing, and I believe what I believe, and not without foundation or reason.  I’m not blindly following or accepting a particular sect or system, just because it’s how I was raised or how I was taught.  I sought and I found.  Enough said.  I tend to feel bad about not letting them in (the door-to-doors), but they have a charter that I don’t agree with, so they won’t be making a sale with me, no matter what they say or do.  It’s a waste of our time, theirs and mine.  I could invite them in and try to convert them, but that’s biting off more than I want to chew.  I ought not be so lazy, but I think that if I simply let my actions be loving, and leave it at that. then no harm, no foul.

I think the great commission is largely misunderstood.  Many sects zero in on it, and they think they need to knock on doors, make passionate altar calls, broadcast to the universe via satellite, or travel far and anon to spread the good news.  I say start small.  In your own body.  In your own life.  Live by example.  Live clean.  Live uprightly.  Live love.

Love is what it’s all about anyway, isn’t it   It’s the golden rule.  If we love one another, and treat them as we’d like to be treated.  Well.   The world would surely be a better place.

All this from some unconscious mutterings.  My sweet little sick child is asleep next to me, his feet on my lap.  He’s so precious.  No explosions for several hours, and so far he’s kept some soup down.  I hope he’s feeling better.  Poor little guy.

Six Weird Things, tagged by suse, sort of.

(…perhaps not meant to be…)

I’ve started this post three times, and when I’ve gone to save my draft, gotten timed out, with all data lost. So much for this upgrade. Hrumph. Now I’m resorting to my desktop text editor to compose my draft, just so I don’t lose it again and again and again.

In the mean time, I will console myself that this is the reason I get so few comments. Because my server times out and comments are lost. Sniffle sniffle. I did take a quick look at stats just after I learned it was delurking week, and found that I actually have visitors from all over the planet! *Blush*
Okay. Six Weird Things.  Here goes.

1. Food. I tend to eat by category. Not always, but often. Sometimes by color, sometimes by item. If I have a stir fry, for example, I’ll pick out the meat or tofu bits. Then I’ll pick out the broccoli. Next the snap peas. And so on. Sometimes I’ll disassemble a sandwich and eat separately the cheese, the meat, the lettuce, and the bread. I think I do this because I can enjoy the individual flavors more. Perhaps.
2. Wetness. Although I always like to be clean, there are times when I don’t like to get wet. I can’t explain it very well, but sometimes I simply have an aversion to water on my skin.
3. Medical. I’m not sure if this is weird or just plain stupid, but I generally won’t go to the doctor unless I’m knocking on death’s door with severed limbs in tow. I even have excellent health insurance with only a $10 copay. I know. I should take advantage. But I don’t.
4. Communication. I *think* I generally have very good communication skills with most people, but I can’t for the life of me carry on a conversation with my husband without a misunderstanding of some sort. Ever.
5. Physique. I have tiny inner ears. It is very difficult to find earbud style headphones/headsets that I can wear.
6. Swimming. I love to swim, but (see 2) sometimes I don’t like to get wet. Also, in man-made venues such as swimming pools, hot tubs, and water parks, I can’t stand the thought of all the tiny little bits of who-knows-what that I see floating in the water (other people’s skin dander, snot, or even WORSE!), which will invariably be ingested in at least a small amount, no matter how hard I try to avoid it. In natural venues such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and ponds, I am terribly afraid of slimy wiggly things lurking in the depths (small or large or very very large, oh dear), in addition to the tiny little bits of who-knows-what that are floating in the water (slimy wiggly lurky creature’s excrements and such, eeeewwwww). So. Not much swimming for me, I’m afraid.

I say … and you think …

1. Voice :: of reason
2. Us :: and Them
3. Passionately :: crazy
4. Humbly :: softly
5. Love songs :: silly
6. Dim :: wit
7. Calendar :: girl, wish I looked like one
8. Careless :: whisper
9. Block :: point
10. Goal :: too many, what to do, what to do

Skin===   That’s what happens when the fingers are off a key on the keyboard.  Some become skin.  Anyhoooo, sometimes I’m not so good at this free association stuff, and just draw a blank.  Or think of tunes…

1. Voice :: Moody Blues.  Won’t you take me back to school…
2. Us :: Peter Gabriel.  …the blood of Eden, lies the woman and the man…
3. Passionately :: I need a hero… Bonnie Tyler   Dunno why, but it pops into my head, so that’s ‘free association’, right
4. Humbly :: Softly, gently, music will enfold you…  Music of the Night, Phantom of the Opera, Michael Crawford
5. Love songs :: Silly, like I said.  Paul McCartney
6. Dim :: and dimmer.  I can’t think of a dim song.  Just a dumb movie.
7. Calendar :: Freeze Frame.  Is that J. Giles Band   I have no idea how to spell that one.  Or maybe I’m thinking of that angel is a centerfold song.  Or maybe it’s the same song.  What do I know
8. Careless :: whisper of a good friend… George Michael
9. Block :: okay, this stopped being fun way too long ago for me to be still typing.
10. Goal :: finish this nonsense and go to bed.

 

from Lunanina

1. Band :: on the run
2. Tan :: not me
3. Mount :: oh dear, where is my mind besides the gutter
4. Arcade :: game, how boring am I
5. Customize :: your slogan (I get way too much spam)…
6. Hamburger :: and fries
7. Solid :: as a rock
8. Forbidden :: knowledge
9. Deter :: and desist
10. Torment :: love

from Lunanina

It’s somewhat free, but I did read Glamourouse’ yesterday, so it may be somewhat skewed.  Lord help us when the psychoanalysts get wind.

1. Represent :: Mislead
2. Mumbling :: Idiot
3. Meetup :: In a dark and cozy place
4. Tantalizing :: All those foods I shouldn’t eat
5. Fake :: Identity
6. Dale :: Carnegie
7. Deny :: Yourself
8. Calories :: Too Many
9. Roll :: With the Punches
10. 44 :: Oh where do the years go

There’s a new one every week at LunaNina.

Suse and Kim both did lists of tens today.  I want to make an attempt.

1. Wow man, looking back at that intro and glancing those two names in close succession makes me do a doubletake and reminds me of someone I used to know…
2. There are so many things I think about or am briefly inspired about that I want to blog about, but I struggle with not having the time.  How I struggle with the time issue.
3. How could I not have noticed the huge bruise on my baby’s head   I cut his hair extremely short this morning, and expected to see if there were any mishaps on his scalp, but didn’t notice any.  When he got home, he had a big red spot on his head.  Did this happen at daycare   Why didn’t anybody mention it   Of course, it was Mr. Gadget who did the pickup this afternoon, and he usually doesn’t chat or ask how the day went.  Tomorrow we will find out.  I’m almost certain it wasn’t there when I dropped him off.
4. I’m going to drive many hundreds of miles this weekend to attend a memorial for my friend.  I’m thinking of driving by my old house to see what it looks like these days, now that we’re all gone and others have remodeled it.  It will probably be a wistful weekend.
5. It’s after midnight and my husband thinks I should go to bed. 
6. I only lost 1/2 lb last week.
7. I wonder if my tooth will heal up well.  It seems to be a bit better, and now only one front tooth is still loose and sore.  I should have probably gone to the dentist, especially because of the headache, but I’m an expert at thinking that everything’s fine with me.
8. Yesterday at work someone made the comment about not wanting to be the one to tell the emperor he has no clothes.  It was an excellent analogy for the situation.  Later, another coworker and I were talking about it and I told him I wouldn’t have a problem (telling the emperor…)  Because at work I have no fear.  I’m all about speaking out for the greater good.  I hold my own very well in my male-centric workplace.  But in my personal life   Not in a million years.  I’ve way non-confrontational when it comes to things personal.
9. I want a cup of tea, but it’s now 12:30 and I probably shouldn’t.
10. I read on Glamorouse that the famous Amalah quit her job, and I have weird mixed emotions after reading this.  She’s got a freelance writing project on the horizon that she will unveil before too long, and I feel a bit torn and guilty, maybe, because I could probably quit my job and we could probably manage, but I don’t want to teeter on a financial precipice and have to scrape so tightly as I have all my life when I’ve finally reached that time and place in my so-called-career where it makes a very decent wage and comes with full medical and dental insurance, a company matching 401k, pension, paid vacation and a degree of schedule flexibility.  None of which Mr. Gadget’s livelihood, bless his hard working heart, provides.  Being a SAHD is not an option for  him.  He says he’d go crazy. 
11. I don’t know how I could possibly work at home with my child at home as well.  He wants to be interacting constantly, and he needs to be interacting.  I don’t know how I could work.  If I’m at the computer, he’s there too, helping me type.  Caps lock, ctrl, alt, anything that can be reached on the left half of the keyboard is fair game to him while he’s helping.  I gave him his own keyboard, but mine is better.  Of course.  Besides, I would want to play with him, and if I tried to work and get him to occupy himself, I’d feel even more guilty.  I go through this every weekend when I scurry to catch up on housework.  I do the mad dash when he takes his naps.  When he’s awake, we play, and I try to get little spurts of things done in between.  At daycare he learns to interact with other children.  He plays happily all day.  I’m very thankful for daycare.   And for this I feel guilty.
12. I’m having some tea anyway.  Tetley British blend with milk and honey.  Given the time, I will likely pay the price tomorrow today.

Doubleknot tagged me with a meme.  It’s so exciting!  Pick me!  Pick me!  This is the Six Weird Things meme.  It’s somewhat like the 5 idiosyncrasies meme, but I’m sure I can come up with plenty of material.  Here goes…

1. When I think I need something, I embark on a Quest.  It’s not a matter of just buying a coffee maker, for example.  One has to consider so many things in order to find the perfect one.  As a result, I may end up with several versions of an item before I am satisfied.  For instance, I have six coffee makers at this moment, and I have recently gotten rid of at least three.  One is commercial for those big family gatherings where it’s important to keep the coffee flowing, fast and strong.  One is a French press, for camping or when the power goes out.  One is a 2-cup drip version with a thermal carafe, which I’ve settled with as my every day version (but if I ever find the perfect one, it’s history!).  One is a Senseo pod version, which I have a love hate relationship with.  The jury is still out on that one.  One is a generic 2-cup drip version that I haven’t remembered to donate yet.  One is a 12-cup generic drip version for when we have coffee drinking company and the 2-cup version just won’t do.  All of these, and I still don’t have the perfect one.  The quest is still on.  (There have been similar quests, mainly for kitchen and wardrobe items.)
2. I snore like a sailor.  Not intending any disrespect to sailors.  Two of my brothers were sailors.  It’s just a phrase.  And, not that snoring is so weird, but as a result, I have death breath in the morning, and to accompany that, a throat full of disgusting phlegm that I cough up and hack, every morning, like a withered old smoker.  It’s just gross.  I call it weird because I don’t know other women who hack like that.  Like I said, it’s just gross.  (I am actually scheduled to see a sleep specialist and an allergist regarding this.  It’s part of the mid-life maintenance flurry I’ve imposed upon myself.)
3. I can’t stand to have a ragged or torn fingernail.  It drives me nuts, to the point where I’d rather rip it off than leave it be.  Consequently, I nearly always carry nail clippers with me.
4. I sometimes think I’m on the verge of understanding foreign languages.  I hear someone speak and feel like I’m a click away from comprehension, as though I could concentrate just a bit harder and I’d get it.  Like tuning in to a radio station.  But I never actually get that far.  Still, in the back of my mind, I feel the comprehension lurking.  I feel it.  Yes, that is definitely weird.
5. I am super confident in my work life, and the polar opposite in my social life. 
6. I like odd numbers.  I don’t know why.  I just do.  If I’m bouncing a ball, I like to bounce it five times, or one, or three, but never two.  If I’m shuffling cards, I shuffle three or five times.   I used to think I wanted five kids, or three, but never two or four.  Now I have one, and I’m on the verge of being too old for more, but I’d like more, but doubt I could possibly have two more, so I may end up with two.  Only two!  What will I do !

While I like to be tagged, I’m not comfortable tagging.  Another sort of weird thing, but not so weird because I’ve come across several bloggers who like to be tagged but not to tag.  So this meme will have to be a self-tagging meme.  I’d love to know if anyone self-tags from here though.