Play?

Oh dear, it’s been a bit hasn’t it? Well, I am planning on blogging again here. In fact, I was going to blog today about biscuits, but I forgot to bring my recipe with me. Oops. I really should have it memorized by now but…I don’t.

Anyway, I have another houseguest who is here until the weekend. So that’s one thing. I am busy trying to complete some artwork, which I will show you…if I ever complete it, that’s another and then there is this other blog that I am part of. That’s the third thing. So if you’ve got the notion, stop by the PaperLotus blog for your regular dose of bloggity goodness. Over there we will be posting about art, inspiration, and um…stuff…I don’t know exactly what we will be posting about but it should be interesting. And we’d love to see you there.

Now, in the meanwhile, I played along with a movie meme over at Fond of Snape (which I am, by the way, fond of Snape, that is) and I actually got a few correct. So, in the spirit of meme-ing, I am playing along. Here’s how it goes:

* Pick fifteen of your favorite movies.
* Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
* Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
* Fill in the film title once it’s guessed.

This part is for the reader:
* No Googling or using IMDB search functions.
* Leave your answer(s) in the comments.

Now, I will say that I think some of mine may be obscure to some people and others I KNOW people like SnarkyDork and Jules will catch. In several cases I left character names in because either it won’t make a difference to those who know it, or it won’t make a difference to those who don’t. Give it a try, see how you do…

1. He's not my Dad, he's my stepdad! (Well Jodi got this one, of course, I'd be upset if she didn't! That's from Shaun of the Dead!)


2. You were thinking that you'll never hear another piece of original music ever again. You'll never read a book that hasn't already been written or see a film that hasn't already been shot.


3. I tried to kill myself with a Lady Bic. A pink plastic razor with daisies on it and a moisturizing strip. (Here comes Jodi again! Really, if she didn't chime in here then I'd have to find a new friend! This is from Empire Records).


4. [Regarding men] You can't trust none of 'em no further than I can kick this lemon pie.


5. Him: I won't allow it to be any more man's nature than women's to be inconstant or to forget those they love or have loved. I believe the reverse. I believe... Let me just observe that all histories are against you, all stories, prose, and verse. I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which did not have something to say on women's fickleness.
   Her: But they were all written by men. (Jules responds thru IM and correctly identifies this from Persuasion)


6. Daughter-in-Law: Child?! Nick is not a child.
   Mother-in-Law: No, he's not that smart. He's only a man.


7. His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance, that's not a name! (Chris tries and fails! But Jodi saves him! Pretty in Pink!)


8. Ehm, look. Sorry, sorry. I just, ehm, well, this is a very stupid question and... , particularly in view of our recent shopping excursion, but I just wondered, by any chance, ehm, eh, I mean obviously not because I guess I've only slept with 9 people, but-but I-I just wondered...ehh. I really feel, ehh, in short, to recap it slightly in a clearer version, eh, the words of David Cassidy in fact, eh, while he was still with the Partridge family, eh, "I think I love you," and eh, I-I just wondered by any chance you wouldn't like to... Eh... Eh... No, no, no of course not...I'm an idiot, he's not...Excellent, excellent, fantastic, eh, I was gonna say lovely to see you, sorry to disturb...Better get on… (WOOHOOO! Kari got this...even though she's never seen it and she wasn't POSITIVE, she still figured it out.)


9. I hate Illinois Nazis. (Chris gets here first. It's The Blues Brothers, of course.)


10. I sit in the subway sometimes, on buses, or the movies, and I look at the people next to me and I think..."What would you say if I told you I was a witch?"


11. They don't look like Presbyterians to me. (Jodi (and my mother's) favorite movie quote is from The Muppet Movie. I dunno, I know some pretty funky lookin' Presbyterians...)


12. Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! (Chris gets it right. It's Animal House, if I have to say I have one favorite movie, I will say this is it.)


13. You musn't give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do, the stronger they get, until they're strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky.


14. Her: In the dark I heard your voice, what did you say?
    Him: I said, "Hey, you, on the other side - let her go. Because for her I will cross over, and then you'll be sorry!"

What?

Yes, yes, I know. Lazy. Whatever. I like answering questions and YOU never ask any. Jeez.

Brenda posted this strange and random question meme thing and I felt the need to chime in. Not because I think you care, but because…I haven’t had anything to post lately. Well, that’s not true, I have things but I haven’t typed them yet. Yeah. That’s it.

Ooh, but I did watch two movies recently. I can hear you. You’re saying if you have time to watch movies why don’t you have time to type and to that I say…they were both pretty decent. I watched Undertaking Betty in the middle of the night because…I felt like it. And I like Alfred Molina (Hey Alfie, call me. Let’s get together!) and it was cute. And strange. And a big ol’ mess at the end but you know, I laughed a little, I watched the whole thing, I even got a little choked up at one part so…it worked. I also finally saw Hot Fuzz. Now, I do adore me some Shaun of the Dead and I was a little concerned that this wouldn’t live up to that glory, but it was good. Not great but not far from great. Better than good but hey, dogs can’t look up, right? So yeah. I’d say see it. I think it probably works better if you are really a fan of those cop/buddy movies that it parodies and I haven’t seen a lot of them. I have seen Point Break but not Bad Boys or Supercop and I really, really dislike The Wicker Man, but…I lost my train of thought…Oh right…um. Hot Fuzz is good. That’s all I wanted to say.

OK, anything else? Um…well, this blog gets a fair amount of it’s hits due to this piece of art:
I don’t know why that is but thank you. I am glad you like it, or are appalled by it or whatever. If you’d like it for your very own it is available at the store in the form of greeting cards and if you want it in another form then you can always email.


Your Middle Name: I don’t want to talk about it.

Age: um…38? Yeah, I think that’ it. 38.

Single or Taken: Well, I am married but I don’t know about “Taken” that kind of implies that I was carried away unwillingly, doesn’t it? Oh…right…taken.

Favorite Movie: Probably Animal House. I never ever get tired of it.

Favorite Song or Album: What ever I have mixed recently for the car. Listening to in the car, not for the car itself. The car doesn’t have ears. The car can’t hear. Oh you know what? It’s currently my “Happy, Happy, I’m so freakin’ Happy” mix that I made for Brenda (after the winter “Melancholy Mix for Brenda” sent her spiraling into misery). It’s really happy.

Favorite Band/Artist: Elvis Costello? Yeah, let’s go with that today. Elvis Costello.

Dirty or Clean: Clean please. Very clean. But…only if I don’t have to clean it. Otherwise…kind of passably clean with some dubious spots. Oh…unless you mean my person…then clean and I will do it. Or if you mean my mind…heh. Well…yeah…pretty dirty. BUT I like to have a clean sink. So…yeah, what are we talking about here?

Tattoos and/or Piercings: 3 holes in my ears. One on the left , two on the right. There used to be more but…eh. And I really want a tattoo but I really am a chicken. So not yet. Maybe later.

Do we know each other outside of LJ/Blogger?
We do not. Well, you and I do not…well…I mean, I have met some people but not others. I think…I am confusing myself here.

What's your philosophy on life?
It’s only life. Just live it.

Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?Well depends on what’s in it, doesn’t it? Whisky? Half empty. Milk? Ew, it’s full. Life? Wait…what?

Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
Yes I would, but I would feel bad about it and it would probably keep me up nights.

What is your favorite memory of us?
Oh remember that time when we went to that place and they were all like “HEY! You can’t do that here!” and we were all like, “WhatEVER!”?...No? yeah, me neither.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
Hatred. Or probably more specifically, being petty and childish. I know I shouldn’t, but I do anyway. And I revel in it…guiltily.

Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you: There is nothing odd or interesting about me…pretty odd/interesting, eh?

You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they: 1) Freedom from financial worry 2) Health (preferably good) 3) Nicholas Cage as my love slave.
No…wait…that was Brenda’s answer. I do NOT want that. Um…a nice little office space to call my very own.

Can we get together and make a cake?
No. But I will totally make you a cake and bring it to you. What kind do you like? I make a wicked chocolate cake with whipped cream cream cheese icing. And some nice vegan “Crimson Velveteen” cupcakes with Velvet frosting.

Which country is your spiritual home?
The U.K. Specifically, Wales.

What is your big weakness?
My arms, but I’ve been lifting weights and they are getting stronger. Oh…um…books. I buy too many books.

Do you think I'm a good person?
Well,as far as I can tell from here…yes.

What was your best/favorite subject at school?
In elementary school I really only liked reading. In high school I loved biology and hated chemistry, and I only sort of liked English class. In college I loved Shakespeare studies, Chaucer and Middle English Literature and despised statistics and American Lit.

Describe your accent: My mother tells me that when I was first learning to speak I was straight outta Brooklyn..but…um…we don’t know why. I don’t have a true New Jersey accent and I’ve never been able to fake it. I’ve always had a tinge of the southern in there but when I lived in North Carolina I learned how to turn a southern accent on and off. Believe me, you get better service at the Taco Bell.

If you could change anything about me, would you?Not a damn thing, you are perfect just the way you…Who are you again?

What do you wear to sleep?
Layers. Lots and lots of layers. T-shirt, sweatshirt, pj bottoms, sometimes a pair of socks or two.

Trousers or skirts? Neither.

Cigarettes or alcohol? Yes please.

If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
Such a morbid question. And why are you putting it on me? If it’s your last day, shouldn’t YOU decide?

Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?
Have at it if you want it.

Picasso.

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Seven? There’s a lot more random than that about me but ok, seven it is:

1. I have a cell phone charm of a little bear drinking a bottle of green tea. Why, you ask? Because my husband bought it for me. Why, you ask? Because the bottle of green tea is the same brand as his favorite green tea.


2. I dislike words that don’t make sense to me. Like when people use “arguably” to suggest that something is the best. Well, that’s not really how it works, I think what you mean that it can be argued that this particular thing is the best, but it doesn’t mean that it is. It’s not so much that the word is misused, but rather that it is overused I think. And I really dislike “inflammable”. That’s not a misuse issue, just a really stupid word issue. I have to agree with Dr. Nick on this one, “Inflammable means flammable? What a country! “ I dislike these kinds of words to the point that they make me angry when I read them. I am (obviously) not particularly fussy about grammar or spelling but stupid words and the misuse of words can make me stop reading a blog, a book, a website, whatever, and NEVER, EVER GO BACK. I try to be very careful with this because I know it will bite me in the butt eventually and I will misuse a word and mangle the language terribly, but I will point out that I have Merriam-Webster on speed dial and I double check what I THINK is the correct usage. OK, not speed-dial, I have a bookmark…and a dictionary…or two.


3. I love tattoo art but I am terrified to get a tattoo. Don’t like needles, don’t like pain, even though I have a very high tolerance for pain, I am just scared pants less of the very idea of getting at tattoo. I have told myself that I will do it for my 40th birthday, so I have a little bit of time to psych myself up…probably won’t happen.


4. I am made oddly happy when I hear that a celebrity or a person of note is nice. I know that it is certainly not a requirement for an actor or a musician or a politician be a nice person, but it makes me feel a little better about the world when I hear that a celebrity of some sort was polite or helpful to another person. I guess I just want everyone to be nice and polite and kind and generous and all that, but something inside of me wants to know that some people don’t turn into jerks just because people recognize them.


5. I woke up with a headache this morning.


6. I once “owned” a hamster named Bono Jones.


7. My childhood dog was named Adolph. I did not name him.

Clearly I put number six in there to curry favor of the hamster-loving readers out there so technically it isn't “random” but hey, I am lazy that way.

Oh dear…tagging…I don’t know 7 people to tag! And I am certainly not going to comment on their blogs insisting that they read mine that would be presumptuous of me! (It’s not of you Jodi, you know I read yours so don’t be insulted!). Here, I will just suggest that if Brenda, Mama Min, Joanne, Kari, Eric…um….how many is that? Two more…OH! Felicia and…ok, look there’s only a few people who read this anyway, so just grab it and run with it.

Heh, I am listening to music and my favorite line from "Pablo Picasso" just played:
"Well, the girls would turn the color of an avocado when he would drive down their street in his El Dorado."

Just remember, "Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole."

Moody.

I know, I know, it’s not original or anything but I have been in a mood for a few days and I don’t feel like working for it. Besides, everyone else is doing it! (Imagine I actually linked to all the people who did it, because I’m not going to because I already told you…in a mood!):

What curse words do you use most?
Oh I use them all. A lot. A real lot. I much prefer the “eff word” over all others though. My husband likes to say things like “mother pusbucket” which I find far more offensive for some reason. He also says “mother of pearl” as a swear, which is not offensive to me, but quite silly. He says that since I am the only person he knows who actually uses “Rats!” as a swear and says things like “Aw gee whiz!” when they get angry, he can say what he wants. It’s true though, I veer wildly from drunken sailor to 1930’s toddler in my swearing.

What’s interesting to me about swearing is the satisfaction it provides. There is a linguistic theory that says that the most offensive swear words, and the most satisfying to say, are those that end with a “hard” sound, like a “K” or a “T”. The softer swear words all end in softer sounds, like and “N”. I have always liked this theory. I think for the most part it is true. Consider the words that are allowed on television now, like damn or ass. Both end in a softer sounds, a sibilant and a…nasal of some sort, and they are, to me anyway, far less satisfying than yelling the word that starts with f and ends with k…you know…FORK!

Do you own an iPod?
I do own a silver iPod mini. I like it but I rarely use it. I would like to get my car wired so I can use it while driving but for some reason, I haven’t done that yet. I do use it a lot when I cook and when someone else is watching something on tv that I don’t want to have to listen to.

What time is your alarm clock set to?
7:20. Ask me what time I get up.

Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
I don’t like having my picture taken. At. All. But two or three years ago I stopped fighting it and let people take it. Now I find it interesting that a certainly SnarkyDork who gave me grief for years about not letting anyone take my picture says that she doesn’t like having hers taken…yeah, I’M LOOKING AT YOU, JODI!

What was the last movie you watched?
I think it was Pirates of the Carribbean 2: The Re-Pirating…or whatever it was called. It was long. I liked it but I could have liked an hour and a half of it much better. Still, I am always happy to see Bill Nighy. Oh, you thought I was going to Johnny Depp, didn’t you? Yeah, so not my type.

(Oop, since I wrote this the other day, I have watched a weird Japanese horror movie. I think it was called Maronette. It was about dolls. It was really, really bad.

What cd is currently in your player?
Oh…um…nothing illegal, that’s for sure. Nothing like some Jarvis Cocker songs and a Thom Yorke solo thing that I may have…no, nothing like that.

That Thom Yorke album though…wow. I like Radiohead just fine. I loved OK Computer but when everyone was raving about Kid A, I didn’t really feel it (but I should listen to it again and make sure, I suppose) but this solo thing. I really didn’t think I would like it and some of it is painfully shrill…but…I so love this album!

Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk?
Oh. I don’t like milk. At all. And I never have. I drank it when I was a kid because that was what I was given but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that I have some dairy issues. Look, I can tolerate just about anything, but dairy, it don’t tolerate me. Especially milk. So no. But I like soy milk and I like regular AND chocolate. And strawberry, and coffee, and spice and…I just like soy milk.

Has anyone told you a secret this week?
I don’t think so…maybe. I ain’t sayin’!

When was the last time you had Starcrack Starbucks?
The Day before yesterday. I had a tall brewed coffee with soymilk and one sugar in the raw. It was ok, it did the trick. I was more awake after drinking it. This morning I made coffee in my French press. I used French Vanilla soy creamer and a little bit of sugar in it. It was too sweet. But I drank it anyway.

Can you whistle?
I can and I do. All the time. Although currently I find I am only whistling that Peter Bjorn and John song “Young Folks” over and over. And it’s making me crazy. You know who is a really good whistler? Donovan’s Mama. She whistles all the time. I used to know when she was coming to visit because I could hear her whistling all the way up the stairs.

What are you looking forward to?
My vacation. Which won’t be for like…seven months. Sigh.

Did you watch cartoons when you were little?
When I was little? Yes. Do I watch them now? Yes. I love cartoons. Very much. Surely you are not surprised by that.

Do you own any band t-shirts?
Last night I slept in a Ramones t-shirt. Other than that…I think I have some that I don’t wear. I once had a favorite Sting shirt that was stolen, along with all the other dirty laundry from my car. And that freaks me out. I had a Bryan Adams bootleg t-shirt that I slept in until it fell apart. I never really LOVED Bryan Adams but I saw him in concert twice and someone gave me that shirt and I loved the shirt. My mom, she looooooves Bryan Adams and yes, I took her to see him. And to see Sting. And she took me to see Adam Ant.

My first band shirts were, and I remember this so clearly and I wish I still had them all, Genesis, Split Endz and the Knack. I liked them because they all had long sleeves.

What will you be doing in an hour?
Probably working. Or pretending to work.

What was the last song you heard?
Hmmm, it was something as I drove in to work…I don’t remember. But I do have “Black Swan” by Thom Yorke running through my head. Right now I am listening to Renata Tebaldi sing the Desdemonda part in Otello.

Last time you cried?
About three days ago.

Desktop or laptop?
Desktop at work, laptop at home.

Desiring any new ink?
Yes, since any ink would be new ink. I have a design and a spot for it but I am CHICKEN. I say I will get a tattoo when I turn 40, but I sincerely doubt that I will.

What’s the weather like?
Overcast, chilly and it has been raining on and off.—Wait that was yesterday. Today is blue skies and chilly.

What were you doing an hour ago?
Working. Probably setting up a script.—Again, that was yesterday, today…oh, wait…same thing. Sigh.

How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
Need? About 6. Want? 9. Get? Usually about 7.

Do you eat breakfast daily?
Yes, usually a muffin (homemade and as healthy as I can make them), sometimes some sort of bar or cereal, dry.

What did you do last night?
Made turkey chili for dinner. Read a book while listening to a tv show, talked to my houseguest. Went to bed early.

Do you use sarcasm?
Use what now?

Do you like mustard?
Mustard is fine in small doses. I sometimes use it instead of mayo in my tuna salad.

Do you sleep on your side/back/stomach?
Yes. Although I have nightmares if I sleep on my back and the cat sits on my back when I sleep on my stomach, so usually on my side.

Do you watch the news?
Not if I can help it.

How did you get one of your scars?
Falling of a skateboard. Oh and the little half moon one on my palm is from a bunch of daisies.

More.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
All of the above. Sometimes I will read a review that makes me HAVE to have a book. Sadly, more often than not, I don’t agree with the reviewer. But I am still a sucker. I do the same with recommendations. Once, my mother was at a craft fair and she happened to mention to some vendor that her daughter (me) liked Shakespeare. So the vendor said “Oh, if she likes that she should read this book! She’ll love it!” My mom told me and dutifully, I sought out the book. I looked everywhere for it, found it had gone out of print, haunted used bookstores and after a year or so, found the series by this particular author, who I am not mentioning by name because when I finally got the book…it had nothing to do with Shakespeare, or the Elizabethans, or anything really. It was a historical romance and it was…not quite what I was looking for. I’m trying to be polite here because I don’t know if I was just so annoyed by the fact that I bothered to track down this book or if it just wasn’t a good book. Still, it was a quest and I completed it. Now I have this set of books that I have only read the first of and I didn’t like it…and that’s not the only time I have done that either. I guess I just like to have a goal and an excuse to go to the bookstore.
And as far as browsing. I am a browser, but I always start with the authors I know and like and then I move out from there. I am attracted to certain styles of book covers and certain fonts and man has that burned me in the past but if you never try something new…you never waste your time.

Lewis or Tolkien?
Argh. Probably neither. I’d like to say Lewis but that would be a…mistruth. I liked them when I was a kid and I still love The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but I seem to remember getting bored along the way. And Tolkein…well I like The Hobbit a lot but my god! The rest of the books…stop with all the singing!!! I guess for me, both series start really strong but as they get further into the world building, I get a little tired of it all. I have never read any of Lewis’ non-Narnia books but I would like to. I think they both were interesting people and had amazing minds but perhaps, for me, their minds tend to wander a little too far from what originally made them interesting to me.
Does that make sense?

Hard SF or Space Opera?
Probably more space opera. But you knew I like opera anyway. Or how about some Space Oprah? I’d pay for that.
I don’t know if I have ever really read any really hard sf. I guess I would be interested but I don’t really have a background for it. I like steam punk a lot though and, in a sense, that’s hard sf gone old fashioned. Well, if it is done right, anyway. And I like the idea that something is real and possible, like in Snow Crash, which is kind of the precursor to Second Life. Or the kind of cyberpunk stuff that I have read, where it feels like we are only days away from plugging our brains into the internet. So maybe I really like hard sf. Hmmm…

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Neither. I occasionally buy them but I almost never finish them. I get distracted by the one inevitable bad story and get disgusted with the whole thing. Oh this one time (not at bandcamp) I was reading this anthology of splatterpunk stories. OK, first, I can not defend my reading of such stuff. It was there I was curious, which I know is the kind of sentence that gets people in trouble, but somewhere in the middle of this book I became so grossed out by one of the stories that I had to do something that I had never done before. I threw the book away. I didn’t give it away, I didn’t leave it somewhere, I actually put it in the garbage and walked away. If you know me at all you know that this is something I don’t do. But I did. So that pretty much ended my experiments with both splatterpunk and anthologies.

Hugo or Nebula?
I strongly suspect I have read more Hugo than Nebula but I don’t actually know and I am too lazy to look it up. But I am quite sure that China has one a few Hugo’s so...I say Hugo. Besides, Hugo just sounds cooler.
(Hunh, I have just looked up both Hugo and Nebula award winners and I think I have read an equal amount of both, but China, although nominated many times, has not won either.)

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
I like my sci-fi like I like my music…NEW WAVE!

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Oh, tidy-ish. Not too tidy but cliffhangers annoy me because what if I didn’t really like the book? You’re not going to lure me into a second purchase just because you can’t wrap up a story.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Night time reading?
I wish it was anytime reading but it’s usually night time. When himself has gone to sleep and it’s quiet. I’ve been making a big effort to wear my glasses more and I think that is helping a lot. My eyes get pretty tired by the end of the day but my brain still wants to read.

Standalone or Series?
Eh, doesn’t really matter to me. (Obviously I am getting bored with these questions…It was so much fun at first!)

Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
Good lord how I dislike high fantasy! I SHOULD like it, but I just don’t. I like fairies and all that crap but man, it bores me. So there!

New or used?
Both. Depends on how freaky obsessive I get about a particular book.
So, if I am getting bored, then I guess you are too so here, do me a favor, and it doesn’t have to be about sci-fi…answer these last few questions. I am always looking for new things to read and I love to get recommendations, even if I end up hating the book. Let genre=whatever genre you like, sci-fi, romance, self-help…whatever, and give me some advice…all three of you…

(And just to be fair, the words in the parenthesis are some of my faves)

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
(The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri)
Favorite genre books read last year (in no particular order)?
(I really don’t want to go into how I didn’t read that many books last year again, but OH! I did read The Scar by China Mieville…damn he gets a lot of love around here!)
Favorite genre books of all time (in no particular order)?
(The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams)
Favorite genre series (in no particular order)?
(Well duh, gotta be Harry Potter…AND the Discworld series AND The Hitchhiker series…AND…)