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getting to know you 2010
02/17/2010 = 01:40 PM

I got this year's email both from the Mom and Juma: two of my favorite people, so who am I to say no?

Welcome to the 2010 edition of Getting to Know Your Friends. What you are supposed to do is press 'FORWARD,' then change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you.

The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known.

What I am "supposed to do" and what I actually do are mutually exclusive when I get emails of this ilk. I only send them back to the sender. I post them on my blog.

If you've gotten this email from someone and don't want to do it, reading mine all the way through grants you immunity.

If you haven't gotten this email but want to do it, help yourself. See the "supposed-to" rules above.

1. What time did you get up this morning? I have not been feeling well, so I got up around 6:30 and made some tea. I have been drinking chamomile tea like it's my job. Which is just as well, since I called out sick from my actual job last night.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Tough call. Diamonds are my birthstone, and there's quite a lot to be said for anything that bright and sparkly, but pearls are so — I don't know; they look like satin but they're strong and dependable. Also, if one is to believe the hype, they're fantastically nutritious and high in calcium, but if I gots pearls, I ain't eatin' 'em, is all I'm saying.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I can't remember. Probably Half-Blood Prince. We were supposed to go see Sherlock Holmes, but yet again, I got hosed.
4. What is your favorite TV show? There are too many. If I'd had time to do this sooner, I'd've said Doctor Who, but now I'm going to reserve judgement till I see how I feel about the new Doctor. Maybe NCIS. I have a girl-crush on Abby.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Coffee, but this morning, I had tea. I don't tend to eat early in the morning, because I come home from work and go right to bed, then I get up in the afternoon, fix dinner, and eat with That Man of Mine before I go to work at 9:45 pm.
6. What is your middle name? I make it up as I go along. It usually has quotation marks around it, as in Golf "You'll Still Love Me if I Don't Tell You My Middle Name, Right?" Widow.
7. What food do you dislike? Peas. Though I like pea pods and snow peas. I guess what I don't like are naked peas. Pickled herring (it tastes better than it smells, but the smell usually throws me too far to want to come back and taste it). Root beer. I know, I'm crazy. You can have mine. I don't know why I don't like it. I just don't.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Bud Buckley, Sitting on the Wind. If you don't have this CD, you ought to. https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/budbuckley3.
9. What kind of car do you drive? I am a licensed driver, but I no longer drive. Insert long boring non-health story here. We own an ancient Camry.
10. What is your favorite sandwich? I have a lot of favorites that I order out, but only two major players that I make at home, and these depend on the weather. Sunny day sandwich is crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jam, bacon (shut up), fresh-ground black pepper (I repeat, shut up), and a very small amount of marshmallow fluff (and did I mention, shut up?) on lightly toasted Portuguese bread. I usually have this with a side of carrot sticks and/or celery, incidentally — it's not quite the same without them. Rainy day sandwich is beef bologna and mustard on seeded rye, with a bowl of Lipton's onion soup. I haven't had to prepare that lunch since we moved to Vegas, actually.
11. What characteristics do you despise? Lack of individuality, I think. Drawing inspiration from the world around you, including other creative people, isn't a punishable crime, but I do have a profound distaste for people who parrot other people's opinions rather than formulate or support their own ... and a particular hostility toward anyone who plagiarizes another person's creativity and proudly puts their own name on it, especially when someone else compliments their "handiwork" and they neglect to mention that their only contribution was the ol' cut 'n' paste.
12. Boston or New York? Argh, don't make me pick just one. I have different reasons for loving both. That said, which one would I go to if you handed me a plane ticket right now? Boston. I have not yet met the most beautiful of all my nieces, and she's going to have a new sibling soon, so, yeah, I would skip the Village for that.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be? Connecticut. I miss the Mom and Juma. Or possibly San Diego, to hunt javelina (if you don't get that, you probably wouldn't enjoy the trip), or San Francisco (with Juma) to see my uncle (her father) and try to find John Dobson and his telescope on a street corner.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? When I was young, cute, and solvent, I bought clothing by brand. Now I buy what fits my body and my budget.
15. Where would you retire to? I live in Vegas. It's like being retired already, except for the still having to work part. That said, I do like the idea of Baltimore. You get snow in winter, but it's warm in the summer. There's a Hard Rock Cafe. It's convenient to Washington, DC and the Smithsonian. Crab cakes. Close enough to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina that I'd be able to go see people. Duff Goldman, as if I could ever have the patience to order a cake a year in advance. I stick my fingers in the frosting on the way home from the damned bakery already.
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? I don't like my birthday. It's always such a letdown.
17. What is your favorite sport to watch? Tournament poker. It is, too, a sport. It's on ESPN and they have beer endorsements.
18. Furthest place you are sending this? This is the Web. It's everywhere. However, I need to email it back to the Mom and Juma, who are both in CT, about 2,600 miles from here.
19. Person you expect to send it back first. I don't mail these things out. I leave them in a pile by the door and you can help yourself if you'd like to.
20. When is your birthday? What, that day I don't really like? April 6th. I will be thirty-nine. Thereafter, I will remain thirty-nine until I turn forty-two, which will be my age till the day I die.
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? I work nights, and I love this town at night. It's so gaudy.
22. What is your shoe size? My feet are about the same size as they were (8 avg), but my arthritis means I tend to buy shoes bigger to allow for bad days. Depending on the style, I buy anywhere from an 8½ to a 10.
23. Pets? We live in an apartment and we're broke. If we could afford room, board, and medical care for another living creature, we'd make a kid.
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? My new 'puter has blu-ray. Why aren't you excited? I am. I get to buy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Again.
25. What did you want to be when you were little? Since the job of being Gene Kranz was already taken (I wanted cigarettes, a headset, and a vest, and I wanted people to call me Houston) I wanted to be a writer.
26. Who are you thinking of right now? My sweet babboo Andy, who may have good news soon, but no one knows, because he is Vaguebooking.
27. What is your favorite candy? I love chocolate, but I am allergic. My favorite candy that I'm not allergic to is probably Mint Melties. Or maybe those crunchy old fashioned peppermint sticks that you can get from the Vermont Country Store, the ones you squish into the end of an orange or lemon and you can drink the juice right through them. (Also heavenly with key limes, by the way.)
28. What is your favorite flower? Anything that's still in the ground. Picked, cut, even potted flowers are captured and pretty, but I prefer things to die on their own rather than to have a hand in their demise. I think I like the smell of wilder flowers more than cultivated ones. Wild roses are ... rosier ... than regular ones, even if the regular ones are nicer to look at.
29. What is a day on the calendar you're looking forward to? Everything I have hopes for right now is kind of up-in-the-air, with no firm dates.
30. What is your favorite pastime? Writing.
31. What are you listening to right now? '80s music on iTunes (my iPod doesn't hold a charge anymore and I can't afford to replace it, but I still have my music).
32. What is the last thing you ate? About four spoonfuls of soup. I'm not really hungry, but That Man of Mine was going all "You have to eat something" on me.
33. Do you have a secret crush on someone? I'm too old to keep secrets of that nature. If I have a crush on you, you're pretty much the first person I tell. .:coffPeterVarvelcoff:. .
34. If you were a crayon what color would you be? An existing color, or a made-up new color? Existing color: midnight blue. Made-up new color: envy green.
35. How is the weather right now? Sunny and maybe a little bit brisk, but not cold. I (and my arthritis) adore Vegas in February.
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? I haven't spoken to anyone on the phone today, and unless someone calls me, I probably won't. I'm scheduled off work tonight and I really don't like to talk on the phone all that much.
37. Favorite soft drink? Any energy beverage fizzy-lifting drink, but preferably one with a lizard on the can.
38. Favorite restaurant? I wish I could remember the name of the place. It was a white building. It was in the Philadelphia area. It was October. Our software class had had to sit through a tedious hour-long sales presentation, but we were treated to dinner by the owner of the software company. We had a private dining room and a personal sommelier. I had no choice but to order seafood, because anything else would have insulted the petit Chablis, which reminded me of the ocean (in a good way). They had the black labeled off-the-freakin'-boat Bushmill, and hand-whipped cream, and freshly-brewed coffee, and sugar-rimmed glasses, and they knew how to apply the formers to the latter and create an Irish coffee that would, possibly, even have impressed Spider Robinson. But, mostly, they had soup. Specifically, snapper turtle. Laced with a spoonful of Harvey's Bristol Cream. My toes still curl at the memory. You bet your sweet ass I love that soup.
39. Real hair color? Brunette, with naturally-occurring crystalline highlights (otherwise known as gray hairs to people who don't know better).
40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Kimberly (a battered, but adored, plush doll given to me by my dad, who knew I didn't like what I called "hard dolls"   —   Barbies or plastic-bodied dolls that were useless for hugging).
41. Summer or winter? Winter. Even on the east coast. It's easier on my self-esteem to cover up my fat than to have to expose it in order to stay cool.
42. Hugs or kisses? I like proper hugs: not the impersonal hand-on-shoulder cheek-press, but full-body-contact bear hugging.
43. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry? If we're talking about ice cream, I'm allergic to dairy, but, provided I've had an antihistamine, I'd still rather have a flavor with more texture than the big three. I like pieces of stuff in my ice cream. It's more of an adventure that way. Of chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry by themselves, however, I would probably select chocolate.
44. Coffee or tea? Either. But on average, I drink far more coffee.
45. Do you want your friends to email you back? I'm not emailing this, but yes, I like getting emails and/or blog comments. If your comment doesn't show up right away, wait. I have to approve it the first time, but once you're an established friend, you may comment with impunity. Note: older posts have comments shut off automatically to prevent spam-invasions, so if you want to comment on something I wrote a while back, email me.
46. When was the last time you cried? Was it Saturday? I think so. I was watching the "End of Time" episode of Doctor Who and when the Doctor said, "I don't want to go," I turned into a puddle of tears and sniffles.
47. What is under your bed? Nothing. Really. I can't get up properly if I have to get down on my knees, so anything I would normally store under the bed is actually somewhere else in the apartment where I can get at it.
48. What did you do last night? Took medicine and huddled in the bed, trying to get warm.
49. What are you afraid of? Insects, arachnids, and any creature having more than four legs and not being able to be steamed and served with drawn butter.
50. Salty or sweet? Salty with sweet is wonderful. I love those Bequet Sea Salt caramels, for instance. But when it comes to snacking in general, I prefer salty to sweet most of the time.
51. How many keys on your key ring? House key, mailbox key, car key (just in case), strongbox key ... four.
52. How many years at your current job? Just one. I had to start from scratch because my former employers are fucking assholes of the economy.
53. Favorite day of the week? Friday. That Man of Mine and I both have Friday off, and can take care of any business that is either closed on weekends or, as is often the case in this town, too tourist-y on a Saturday.
54. How many towns have you lived in? Not counting school or anything temporary? Two: West Haven, CT, and North Las Vegas, NV.
55. Do you make friends easily? Face-to-face, I'm really shy. It takes me a while to open up to people.
56. How many people will you send this to? Via email, two. Everyone else will see it on the 'net.
57. How many will respond? Probably none, but I'm okay with that.
58. FEMALE: Thong or panty? Thongs are basically fashion's way of giving one an instant wedgie. No, thank you.

Tags: meme

drinking: tea
listening to: The Tubes, She's a Beauty
tonight's dinner: probably, soup