Nylonthread laid bare in ABC form

Kelly O posted this meme on her blog and challenged her readers to pick it up. Consider yourself tagged if you're reading this (and are looking for blog fodder)! Oh, and that little guy at the right? Once you scroll down to "Z," you'll figure out what he is. Creative Commons photo taken by aginger.

A - Age: 38

B - Bed size: queen

C - Chore you hate: scrubbing bathrooms

D - Dog's name: dog? I have no dog.

E - Essential start your day item: lately, lots of stretching, yoga style; then checking TwitterFon

F - Favorite color: Rosie assigned me orange a while back (she gave all her close relatives color IDs)—I have to admit, orange has become close to a fave.

G - Gold or Silver: silver

H - Height: 5'2"

I - Instruments you played: piano, clarinet, hand-okarina (but not well)

J - Job title: I work for a huge corporation, so it makes me giggle when I read my official title: New Media Specialist IV

K - Kids: Rosie & Dash

L - Living arrangements: a modest 1950's rambler with a fab finished basement

M - Mom's name: Sheila

N - Nicknames: la-NAAA!

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none

P - Pet Peeve: when people ask me to repeat myself, especially if they are doing so because they were checking their phone while I was talking.

Q - Quote from a movie: "No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes?"

R - Right or left handed: right

S - Siblings: one younger sister

T - Time you wake up: between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

U- Underwear: bikini

V - Vegetable you dislike: arugula (if you hate me, serve me a blue-cheese, arugula, & scallops salad with lots of mayonnaise)

W - Ways you run late: trying to finish that one last thing before we go

X - Rays you've had: dental (had an MRI of my head, does that count?)

Y - Yummy food you make: banana bread

Z - Zoo animals: pygmy marmosets (they're so tiny, hard to spot at the zoo, but it's always a thrill when you do!)

Random: On the day I was born...

Mama Told Me (Not To Come) by Three Dog Night was #1 on Billboard's charts for two weeks running. Since I was born early, this is strangely apropos. Heh.

Okay, now I must do everyone else:

On Monkeyrotica's birth-date, the #1 song was: To Sir With Love by Lulu

On Rosie's: Lose Yourself by Eminem

On Dash's: We Belong Together by Mariah Carey

Hm, I'm not even sure what any of their birth-date songs sound like. I can practically sing along with "Mama Told Me" though. Monkey, do you know "To Sir With Love"? Will my kids ever hear their birthday songs played on the radio when they are adults?

Ms. Nylon: Superhero!

Go, make yourself a hero at Hero Factory!

I put up a different one on FB last night, but it was so crazy-fun, I had to make another for you, my blog readers!

I grabbed this idea from Melissa (on Facebook) at Unfit Mother! Thanks for passing on the entertainments. Other blogging pals have picked up their powers: go check out: Hey, Ho, KellyGO and Pink Asparagus!

Hm, what's with the short 'do on my alter ego? I've been thinking about haircuts...

Four years, process of elimination

I thought I'd try to do the high school meme, and I went and found all these photos of myself from high school and tried to sort it all out. What was my focus? What was I doing? (Enjoy all the '80s hairdos, friends!)

I think I didn't really have much focus; I was involved in so much at the outset, that I can almost define my experience by what was eliminated. When I started high school, I was taking classes in art, drama, band (clarinet), chorus, and piano, and also training in soccer, swim team, dance, and cycling. To her credit, my mom drove us around to all that! I can't imagine driving a child (actually two) to all those activities! My sister had just as much going on—we are close in age, so our parents normally just lumped us together in the same age group for sports.

The first things to go away were the sports. I didn't continue competitively with high school swimming and soccer teams, although I did get my lifeguard certificate and worked at a YMCA for a while as a guard and an aquatics instructor (and yes, with that hair). I did one parade in the marching band and decided that wasn't for me. I'd been in private acting courses throughout middle school, but only performed in one play in high school; I didn't stand out and abandoned it after a few auditions didn't land me any further parts.

What was left? Chorus? I was an alto and not that vocally talented. Piano lessons, which I dropped at age 16, when all the practicing (two hours a day) was hard to maintain with a heavy load of homework and remaining activities, mainly the dancing, clubbing, music, boys, friends, art, and bicycling. I loved, LOVED the dancing! I took jazz dancing lessons at a local ballet studio and was very responsible about making all of my classes; I even went all through the summer sessions. I rode my bicycle to class and adored the instructor, Mrs. Lang. Somehow, all the quitting and abandoning stuff backfired here, though. I chose to continue with dancing, but my parents pulled me out of it, because they thought I wasn't going to the classes.

I filled the gap by going dancing at nightclubs, focusing more on listening to music (industrial/punk/goth/club), buying albums, and going to shows in Chicago. The art part was easy! I expended little effort in classes and whatever I did, the teacher gave me an A. Sometimes I got triple or quadruple As, which was pretty ridiculous—hard to take seriously. I won a couple of competitions with my artwork and participated in art shows. The portfolio I developed really opened doors for college admissions! (BTW, this bizarre tree painting did NOT go in my portfolio, but was fun for display in public.)

Outside of the classwork, my most memorable high school moments were dancing at clubs with boys, wandering around Chicago with boys and friends (I was kinda boy-obsessed and dated a lot), and cycling trips with my family. We went bicycling almost every weekend! We travelled (by car) to go on week-long cycling tours in Vermont, Wisconsin, southern Illinois, Indiana. I
didn't have a car (though plenty of kids did), so bicycling got me where I needed to go.

What did I stick with? If you read my blog, you already know. My apologies for such a rambling post, but it's getting close to the midnight hour here & I've gotta get something up!

Lexeme Meme

While trolling fellow NaBloPoMo-bloggers' posts, I found KellyGO had done this meme. My Wednesday is ending soon, and I just spent all my writing energy on Facebook (shaking fist at Facebook! why are you so addictive!?!) The rules of this meme are to answer the following questions in just one word and then to pass it on to seven others. If you're reading and looking for posting fodder, consider yourself tagged (I know, lazy about tagging, as usual!).

Where is your cell phone? desk
Where is your significant other? bed
Your hair color? sepia
Your mother? nearby
Your father? same
Your favorite thing? friendship
Your dream last night? evaluation
Your dream/goal? fulfillment
The room you’re in? home-office
Your hobby? jewelry
Your fear? separation
Where do you want to be in 6 years? half-way
Where were you last night? home
What you’re not? salacious
One of your wish-list items? vacation
Where you grew up? suburbs
The last thing you did? write
What are you wearing? pajamas
Your TV? projector
Your pet? parrot
Your computer? Mac
Your mood? chill
Missing someone? Nope
Your car? mini-SUV
Something you’re not wearing? socks
Favorite store? variety
Your summer? lively
Love someone? YES
Your favorite color? celadon
When is the last time you laughed? today (Yes, I kept Kelly's: belly-laugher-comments)
Last time you cried? today (If you didn't cry at this link, you are made of stone.)

the omnivore's one hundred

What a magnificent view for us omnivores - smoked and cured meats and cheeses galore
Originally uploaded by bonaireguy

I haven't done a meme in a while and just found this one on KellyGO's shared feed. Very Good Taste (via Postbourgie and Ezra Klein) gave a list of food items, plus the following instructions:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison (my nephews like to hunt, Monkeyrotica likes a cooking challenge)
2. Nettle tea (I'm a bit of an herbal tea tester)
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (I'm not sure here, I rarely do rare or raw red meat)
5. Crocodile (or alligator beignet)
6. Black pudding (first in Ireland, and then at home. Dash likes it!)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht (one of Monkeyrotica's favorites!)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (DC half smokes, too!)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (mead)
19. Steamed pork buns (mmmm, dim sum)
20. Pistachio ice cream (LOVE, LOVE!)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (Eve)
24. Rice and beans (practically a staple, how did it get on this list?)
25. Brawn, or head cheese (Eve called it tête du cochón. doesn't that sound better?)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (mmm, oyster shooters at M&S)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (not into cigars)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo (a Mr. Monkey regular menu item)
40. Oxtail (Mr. Monkey makes this as soup)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (anyone remember "The Insect Club?")
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (hello, there's one down the street?)
50. Sea urchin (whuuuuah, terrible. but I ate part of it.)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (it was the 70s. my mom loved her the health food store.)
61. S’mores (I was a Campfire Girl)
62. Sweetbreads (Eve, again)
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (one of our kids' favorite treats)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (that means rabbit, right?)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (outside of Tempe, AZ)

I'm pretty sure that I've eaten all those things (or maybe I have trouble separating just watching "A Cook's Tour" from reality) and I won't completely write off trying the things I haven't bolded.

I tag my usual suspects, or at least a few folks who have commented here recently:

Dee, Dees, Hill Rat, Kelly, Catherine, Wreke, and PhilFree

Book Meme

Book Stack
Originally uploaded by toxophilite

I was tagged! with this list of the top 100 or so books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users. Rules: bold the books you have read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish.

I have to mention here that I am a reader of SciFi and Fantasy. I read, but my picks are clearly off the beaten genre. The reason I have started and not finished so many of these books is that Monkeyrotica is an English major and avid book buyer; we have many of these books lying around the house. When I get tired of reading my Orson Scott Card alt. fiction novel for the 5 time, I try a taste of something different.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

Quote meme

life in the tea cup
Originally uploaded by takuya miyamoto*

Hey gang, I just can't be avoiding this meme any longer because as of today, I have been tagged by two charming blog-buddies, Dee at OnTheCurb and Wrekehavoc. They both are much more literary and quote-loving than I (and probably have better memories for quote-recall), so I had to go digging before I found a couple that have tickled my fancy.

I used to use this one when something that was expected to go perfectly well went horribly wrong, but in a way that was a few hairs short of a complete disaster. It's by the late, delightful, British SciFi humourist, Douglas Adams, in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

"When the 'Drink' button is pressed it makes an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject's brain to see what is likely to be well received. However, no-one knows quite why it does this because it then invariably delivers a cupful of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

I've learned through this search that "not entirely unlike [X]" has recently entered the realm of hacker jargon

Another quote dear to my heart is from my favorite author, also of SciFi/Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. He is well known for his ethical truth/belief themes, for extremes of bad vs. good in his work, and has a wonderful way of creating alternate realities for the escapist in me. This quote is spoken by Ender Wiggin from Ender's Game.

"Remember: the enemy's gate is down."

It might be representative of why Hollywood is having such a difficult time making this book into a movie (which has been in the works for, I don't know, a decade?). So much of the movement in the book goes on in the heads of the children, illustrating their thoughts as they are learning about the world, and reacting to their surroundings. This quote is a cry of joy for Ender; he is a brilliant military student who has learned all he can from teachers that show him only the rote way of approaching challenges, and he gets beaten down for trying alternates. When he finally gets to teach his own students, he breaks down the staid processes, turns them on their corners and shows them the joy of learning through innovating. His class/army is about to rock the world of their competitors/enemy, as they have no idea what is about to hit them.

I tag friends who have blogged about unexpected disasters as well as cries of joy in their lives (well, that's pretty much everyone, but I'll cut it down):

Unfit Mother
Soundly Sleeping
Up From Sloth
Radical Mama

6 of ms. nylon's quirky-quirknessess

Dear Kelly O tagged me with this meme, so I will take this opportunity to explore some perhaps unmentioned weirdnesses.

1. I carefully scutinize people's shapes all the time and believe that I can guess what primary childhood (to adult) activity shaped them that way. For example, a swimmer vs. a runner, etc. has a different build based on the muscles they've developed most.

2. I can wiggle my ears.

3. Stories like O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" where a great deal of effort amounts to nothing but emptiness/loss but are somehow ultimately supposed to be uplifting really piss me off.

4. (Changing this one, sorry) I'm exceptionally good at getting through crowds; I'm small, light on my feet, spot openings and don't hesitate. This upsets family & friends trying to follow me in airports, for example, so I really only exercise this skill well when alone.

5. I feel strange/self-conscious when I wear light-colored clothing, pastels, or gold; like I'm wearing a costume or am breaking rules.

6. If you have an accent, after a while of talking with you, I will begin to pick it up semi-consiously. I don't decide to mimic, but once I'm aware that I'm doing it I consider it an effort to help you understand my speech and don't stop.

I tag:
unfit mother
on the curb
up from sloth

2007 Recap Meme

My dear blogging friends Dee at on the curb and Sher at wrekehavoc both did this meme, so I jumped on the wagon. 2007's dead, long live 2008! I mean, happy new year!


1. Where did you begin 2007? We spent last new year's eve at Kelly & Todd's, but really didn't stay into Jan 1 officially; we usually pretend that it's midnight at 7 p.m. New year's day last year was a Monday and I don't have anything noted on my electronic calendar that day.

2. Did you have to go to the hospital? Nope, don't recall entering a hospital for any reason, thank goodness!

3. Did you have any encounters with the police? Nope.

4. Where did you go on vacation? We spent a week at the beach in Rehoboth, DE in around Labor Day.

5. What did you purchase that was over $500? We bought the outdoor swingset that, with shipping, just crossed the $500 line. Also, my new specs cost about that much, because since my prescription is so bad, I order all sorts of high-index, anti-glare customizations to the lenses. Unfortunately, we had to replace the pump for our AC unit, and that took a sizeable bite in our budget, too.

6. Did you know anybody who got married? I noticed that our neighbor across the street had an outdoor wedding, does that count?

7. What sporting events did you attend? Um, none. Really.

8. What concerts/shows did you go to? Only Tori Amos, thanks to dear Wreke, who got free tix on a radio show!

9. Where do you live now? DC Metro Area, Alexandria, VA, specifically. We're in our fourth year at our current house.

10. Describe your birthday: The Majestic! We got two sitters to watch all our kids, then went out to dinner with Kelly, Todd, Heather and Amy. The atmosphere was fun, the company was fabulous, and I really enjoyed myself with all the wine and great food. Yum. Warm fuzzy.

11. What’s the one thing you thought you would never do, but did in 2007? Well, after 11 of 13 people on my team were right-sized in February, who knew I could run an Air Force outreach program at the Pentagon for Congressional audiences practically by myself (there was one other full-time person who had her own tasks). Did I mention that I have a fine arts degree?

12. What’s something you learned about yourself? I can, in fact, take on two volunteer commitments as well as work full-time, while still having happy kids (in daycare) and keeping up with friends and housework! What, AJS, you disagree?

13. Any new additions to your family? Nope.

14. What was your best month? I recall June as pretty good, mostly because of the great outdoor parties for Dash's and Jool's respective birthdays! (ooo, I almost forgot about the whole Helio debacle, but let's imagine that didn't happen.)

15. What music will you remember 2007 by? Partly the tunes I made up to go with nursery rhymes that I sing to Dash at bedtime and party the Grey's Anatomy Season 2 soundtrack CD that gets almost constant play when kids are in my car: play "Miss Halfway" again, mommy!! No!, play "Hello Baby!" PLEEEEEAZZE?!?

16. Made new friends? Yes! In addition to some new friends in the blogosphere (Venessa, Dee), I befriended a couple who I met through our daughters' ballet class. I think it was the Ramones t-shirt Gina wore at Ava's drop-off one day that made me want to know her.

17. Favorite night out? At the moment, I'd have to refer you to #10. Our 10th anniversary dinner was a close second!

18. Any regrets? I regret that my job at the Pentagon was eliminated due to contract funding. My commute is suffering these days. Also, we should have hired babysitters more often for more couples time together.

19. What do you want to change in 2008? I'd like to get a better commute situation, maybe working from home a couple of days a week. Rosie starts Kindergarten this September, and I'd like to be around for her, even if I have to be working.

20. Overall, how would you rate this year? 6. Our friends and family pushed it slightly above average.

21. Other than home, where did you spend most of your time? My office.

22. Change your hairstyle? I guess I did change it this year, but only by neglect. It's the longest that it's been since 1997, when I grew it out for my wedding up-do.

23. Buy a new car? Nope. I've got a little while before I pay off the current one.

24. Any car accidents? Nope.

25. How old did you turn this year? 37

26. Do you have a New Year’s resolution? I'd like to set a goal to lose 10 pounds before the dance recital in June. Also, I resolve to avoid high-fructose corn syrup and MSG as much as is possible.

27. Do anything embarrassing? How about the pants tear from a week ago?

28. Be honest - did you watch American Idol? Once or twice. I really prefer the fictional, scripted shows much more than reality ones.

29. Start a new hobby? I did pick up an old one: jewelry making! See the link to my Etsy shop at the right...

30. Will you be happy to see 2007 go? Not happy necessarily, but certainly not sad.

31. Been naughty or nice? Nice. Yeah, that's me, Ms. Nice.

ABC-me-meme

Wrekehavoc tagged me with this meme, which I will happily respond to. I can't get to her post right now, but it goes something like this:
For each letter of the alphabet, find an adjective that describes you; be creative and be positive (fat for F and lame for L is just a downer for all involved); explain as much or as little as you like! Remember to tag others when you're done!

A: artistic. I excelled/skated easily in art classes through high school, getting crazily high scores (A+++) without much effort; college was much harder.
B: balanced. Yeah, I can stand on one foot muuuuch longer than you!
C: cute. I'm a friggin 5'1" fuzzy little bunny with Anime eyes!
D: delightful! Yes, I am usually filled with delight! Do a search on my blog for "delight" and you'll see.
E: equable. I often am enraged when I see unequal treatment among colleagues or friends. I expect at as a right at home, and will be in quite a snit if AJS is not doing his share.
F: flexible. I am pretty good at being open to changes and new situations, even ones that make me rearrange set schedules.
G: generous. I do try to give more than I get, especially with friends; I strive to do more.
H: humorous. I have a quirky sense of humor; AJS can make me laugh till I fall on the floor, but I am deadpan at work and often play the straight-man.
I: inclusive. I can't include everyone, and that just pains me.
J: jaded. Just enough to make me a realist.
K: kind. Gawd, I just can't, can't be a bitch. I'm not wired that way. It's funny when I try.
L: lanoline. As a variant of my name, this was a silly nickname in my childhood.
M: multi-tasker. If I'm not doing several things at once, I'm bored. I used to tell my mom that it helped me to watch TV and do homework at the same time...
N: neighborly. *I* am, I just wish my neighbors reciprocated occasionally (Gretchen and Kristine excluded, you are fabulous).
O: optically-challenged. I've had glasses since I was seven and am myopic, astygmatic and photo-phobic.
P: pragmatic. If I can only use it one way, why waste my time with it? Multi-task, baby!
Q: quick-study. Um, I feel like I'm writing a resume here.
R: Reubenesque. Yep, I got me some curves.
S: sweetheart. My given name means sweetheart in Gaelic, so how could I not fulfill this destiny?
T: toasty, if you go with the definition "warm and comfortable." Also, I looooove toast with a little butter and jelly.
U: urban. I likes me some city, plenty of attractions, and the public transit.
V: vigilante-esque: I have called attention to unlawful eaters on the metro, when I'm in a bad mood.
W: watchful. I have antennae and 8 arms, remember?
X: xanthous (did I tell you that I own an O.E.D?) while I am not light-blond of hair, I am fair-complected with dark-blond tresses.
Y: yielding. I listen and learn from others, and make my own bounty from my lessons.
Z: zoster (obsolete, but I'm using it anyway). I am proud to be a sister, and to have my genetic history reflected back to me upon another female person, raised with me by the same parents, yet separate, unique, and thankfully familiar.

Yeesh, was that positive enough for you? I'm a little buzzed from all the saccharin... :-)

And, if you're reading, consider yourself tagged.

Five more things about Ms. Nylon

Kelly O tagged me for another meme; her five things were about bars, and really, not much interesting has happened to me in bars (except taking a few acquaintances home because they had been slipped mickeys) so I'll make mine about hm, let's see.... Ms. Nylon and fainting!

1. The first time I became aware that the sight of (mostly my own) blood made me faint was at a doctor's appointment when I was around five. The nurse had just pricked my finger to take a sample, then she and my mom turned their backs on me to do who knows what, and while examining the odd bead off blood growing on my middle finger's pad, I fell off the exam table.

2. Another blood-fainting event was right after I lost a tooth at age six or so. I wanted a better look at the space where my tooth used to be, so I climbed up on the bathroom counter. Somehow, I wasn't prepared for the gory, messy hole, and my mom found me on the floor of the bathroom. For dramatic effect, she told me that I managed to get the hairdryer cord wrapped around my neck while I fell, so it was an amazing scene.

3. A third recollection I have was while I was in college. Some friends and I went to see Skinny Puppy play during their VIVIsect VI tour, wherein the front man, Nivek Ogre (aka Kevin Ogilvie), dressed up like a surgeon and the stage was set like a laboratory. During one song, he wheeled out a stuffed dog on a gurney. Plush, not taxidermy.

While singing, he slowly snapped on some rubber gloves and pulled out an enormous syringe full of very red liquid; mind you, I was in no way convinced that any of this was real. He dramatically plunged the syringe into his elbow, pumped, then slowly extended his arm, letting red liquid (not blood) flow down in rivulets. Still okay. Then, he opened up his rubber glove and let the red stuff into the glove, so it ran into the fingers and all over his hand inside the laytex and THIS is where my brain had had enough and decided to shut me off.

I came to on the floor of the club, with a bunch of people I didn't know trying to pull me up, but managing to really mess with my dress. Ugh.

4. Also in college (during a summer break), I had a mole removed from right in between my shoulder blades. At the end of the day after the treatment, I asked my sister if she would changed the bandaid, to keep things fresh (I'm sure I was instructed to do so). While my back was to her, she peeled it off and in an extremely horrified voice, gasped and said, "Uuuuhgh! Oh my god!" and I yelped, "What?!? What does it look like?" But, my brain had already started to imagine oozing gangrene or something equally nasty and boom, on the floor again.

5. As an adult, I managed to make it through both children's births without passing out. Nevertheless, I once had a minor, minor procedure, also involving a mole and two stitches. When it was over, I think I saw one drop of blood on the paper on the exam table and I fainted.

It's very primal and illogical, this fainting response. After the first several times, I could anticipate that it was coming on, yet could do nothing to stop it, almost like a bystander.

Ach, our bodies & brains are mysterious things.

I'm tagging some new NaBloPoMo pals who are surely able to bounce off this theme (think of it as an exquisite corpse, um, except you can see what I've already done, and well, you know what I mean... I hope):

VDog
Stickyfeathers
Natural Mommy
Trish
Kara

Seven facts, weird & random

underwater lena
Originally uploaded by monokultur

I was tagged by my pal Ms. Obsessive for this meme. The rules are:

• Link to your tagger and post rules.
• Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names.
• Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog.

1. I have memories of swimming underwater solo (accidentally) for the very first time on a family vacation when I was four years old. I went on to swim competitively and was a lifeguard in high school.

2. Whenever I tried to “sneak out” or otherwise surreptitiously disobey my parents in high school, they somehow found out every time in random and bizarre circumstances. After several embarrassingly thwarted incidents, I gave up and started just being up front with them.

3. As a child, I never had to suffer the death of a treasured pet; our cockatiel, Chirp, was added to our family when I was 8 years old and died in 2002. She was 27 years old.

4. Foods I tell people I’m allergic to, but really just don’t like: mayonnaise, blue cheese, sea scallops, American cheese, and pasta salad (the kind with cheese cubes). For some bizarre reason, I don’t like chocolate cake or fudge, but just can’t resist BROWNIES!!

5. One of my ears is about 1/4-inch higher than the other, which makes wearing/adjusting glasses and sunglasses a bit of a pain. I can wiggle my ears, though!

6. I met my husband 15 years ago through a Washington City Paper personals ad. His was the only ad I have ever answered. He likes to say he wrote it to find me. I also can remember it by heart: “Slim, exotic, single male, 25, half-Japanese (no accent), ISO clever, non-insane bureaucrat with an artist’s soul to explore bookstores, existential dilemmas. Likes Joyce, Python, Waits, Welles, iced coffee. No double-dipped Baptists or women who can’t recover from their recovery.”

7. Our children’s first names are based on a character in an Orson Welles movie and a 1930s crime fiction author (bonus points if you can guess who to either!); their middle names are from AJS’s maternal grandmother and my father.

I tag:
Dees
Radical Mama
On the curb
Mrs. G. (who has commented here a few times lately, HI!)
Miss Molly
Monkeyrotica
Forstmeister

Since I’m not readily able to leave comments on people’s blogs, I’ll make an effort to poke around at home on our dial-up; it might take awhile, so I hope you take your cue from this tag!!

Career meme

Here's a meme I found on Molly & Kelly's blogs. What's amazing to me is that my first declared major in college was Industrial Design and that's what came up as my #1. Maybe I shouldn't have dropped it? My chosen career was down at #18, which isn't too bad, really. I have actually gained income from working in #s: 3, 7, 9-11, 16-20, 26-27, and 32. I would have loved a career as a medical illustrator, but my history of fainting at the sight of blood would have gotten in the way.

Instructions to the Career quiz at Careerbuilder.com:

a. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/.
b. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
c. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
d. Post the top-whatever results

1. Industrial Designer
2. Interior Designer
3. Website Designer
4. Fashion Designer
5. Cabinetmaker
6. Model Maker
7. Animator
8. Electronics Assembler
9. Sign Maker
10. Desktop Publisher
11. Cartoonist/Comic Illustrator
12. Office Machine Repairer
13. Costume Designer
14. Set Designer
15. Makeup Artist
16. Multimedia Developer
17. Exhibit Designer
18. Graphic Designer
19. Artist
20. Computer Animator
21. Musical Instrument Builder and Repairer
22. Bicycle Mechanic
23. Furniture Finisher
24. Potter
25. Boilermaker
26. Picture Framer
27. Craftsperson
28. Welder
29. Upholsterer
30. Tilesetter
31. Medical Illustrator
32. Jeweler
33. Cable Installer and Repairer
34. Carpenter
35. Electrician
36. Security Systems Technician
37. Autobody Repairer
38. Plumber
39. Gunsmith
40. Dental Lab Tech

my first meme tag! fave local food spots...

Kelly at O for Obsessive tagged me with this meme. Rosie eats almost nothing but starch and Dash eats lots of different foods, but gets a little itchy sitting in one place for too long, so that limits our dining-out abilities. If we do have a chance to have a dinner out or if a favorite place is good with kids, I'm listing it here.

I currently live in Alexandria, VA, but prior to having offspring (only 4 years ago) we were solid DC residents. My favorite places are moving south to Northern Virginia.

Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Include the state and country you live in.
• List top five favorite local restaurants.
• Tag five other people and let them know they've been tagged.

My top five:

1. Restaurant Eve. In Old Town Alexandria, this dining experience rises high above all other Old Town fare. We don't bring the kids here, but whenever there is a special event (anniversary, night to ourselves, etc.) this is where we know we will get excellent service, fabulous food prepared surprisingly and with care, and really enjoy ourselves.

2. Dishes of India. In Belle View, a hood in Alexandria south of the beltway. We have mostly ordered for take-out, but have brought the kids here with no problems. I think this is the best Indian around, prepared by seasoned chefs from Northern India. I love, love the tasty spices! The lamb dishes are great, Dash adores the Murg Tikka, and I occasionally order the veg dishes for variety. All around good.

3. Sushi Taro. This one's in DC; although we haven't been in a while, it remains my very favorite sushi place in my heart. The food is excruciatingly authentic and popular with Japanese tourists. A couple favorite moments: Japanese tourists taking photos of themselves in the restaurant (WTF? They could be in Japan, the decor is so authentic!); and making reservations for us under Mr. Suzuki, and AJS had to play Japanese when he arrived (he looks the part, but knows about as much Nihon-go as the average sushi-restaurant-menu reader).

4. Via Veneto Italian Restaurant. In Hollin Hall, another hood in Alexandria, south of the beltway. This a very small, family-run restaurant is one of our favorites for carry-out, but occasionally we dine-in. It gets busy and crowded, so when we do go to eat-in, we have an early dinner. The food is delightful and I always get a kick out of the smoke-seasoned voices of the two sisters who run the place. One of our stand-bys: large pizza with sausage, black olives, and spinach! Bella!

5. Burma (Washington DC) or Mandalay (Silver Spring, MD). These two restaurants are tied for their tastiness, but also the similarity in their exotic menus. They serve Burmese cuisine, with standouts of ginger salad and mango pork; I however, always go for the noodle dishes! We went to Mandalay for my birthday last year (look at little Dash, one-year old!), which is the larger of the two and could handle a party with several children. We would have had to close Burma down for a private party that day!

Oh, and tag, you're it: Radical Mama, Been There Seen That, Remember Sammy Jankis (because he seems to forget that he has a blog), and that's about all whom I can come up that might respond to a meme.