Hand Me a Gin and Tonic, Will Ya'?

Another Quiz, actually kind of similar to the other one . . . I'm not quite sure what these things say about me . . . Carole Lombard and Marilyn Monroe, huh?

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Carole Lombard

You scored 5% grit, 29% wit, 38% flair, and 33% class!

You're a little bit of a fruitcake, but you always act out in style. You have a good sense of humor, are game for almost anything, but you like to have nice things about you and are attracted to the high life. You're stylish and modern, but you've got a few rough edges that keep you from attaining true sophistication. Your leading men include William Powell, Fredric March, and Clark Gable. Watch out for small planes.

Standing over a Subway Grate . . .

Hi, everyone!

Yes, I will do a proper post shortly, (I promise!) but to ease my way back into posting, here's an interesting little Quiz that's been making the rounds . . .

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

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Yet Another Random Book Meme

These are the top 100 or so books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users. Bold the books you have read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

It’s really weird because a lot of the books that I haven’t read, I actually DO have in the stacks somewhere waiting to be read. Those I’ve marked with an asterisk . . .

I’m kind of bummed and embarrassed that I can’t check off more, since I do love reading so much, but I have been so lousy at the concentration thing recently. Now funny thing is that over the past few months on Saturdays I often end up in coffee shops and in parks where it’s pretty easy to just settle in and start reading. Once I do that, I’m pretty focused and tend to plow through pages, just like when I was younger. But when I get home, oy! The focus is gone. There’s too much other stuff distracting me . . .

*****

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
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 (saw the miniseries w/Gerard Depardeiu, which was AWESOME!)
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath (reading right now)
The Poisonwood Bible (I hated it)
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
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 (I hated this one, too. It annoyed me to no end)
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 (working on right now)
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 (I don’t know why I couldn’t finish it – I just couldn’t get into it . . .)
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

*****
I hereby tag any person who wants to take the time to do it, otherwise just feel free to comment!

Random Music Answers - Finally!

Thanks for waiting, everyone!

I am so glad that so many of you visited and left comments – Welcome! I do believe that this was my most responded to post EVER. I’ve highlighted the ones that were guessed correctly in bold.

As I said earlier, I have a lot of cover versions so if you guessed Fred Astaire for “Cheek to Cheek,” I think that’s close enough . . .

Before I go on, I just want to highlight my favorite local folks:

• Eddie From Ohio is a local band that’s been together and touring for more than 16 years. They got their start doing regular gigs at the long-gone-but-much-missed dive bar in Arlington, Bad Habits. I’ve seen them live several times at venues as large as Wolf Trap and as cozy as the Birchmere. They are a very fun, folky group that deserves to have a wider audience. An archive of some of their shows can be found here: http://www.archive.org/details/EddieFromOhio. Robbie Schaefer is part of that band, and has a solo career doing children’s music (and other music too) and a weekly kid’s radio show on XM.

• I am also a huge Mary Chapin Carpenter fan. I’ve seen her at Wolf Trap a number of times, mostly from the lawn. She’s from around here too.

So without further ado . . . the answers!

1. I got the heebies, I got the heebie jeebies – Hebbie Jeebies, The Puppini Sisters
2. River full of stones when there is no rain – River, Mary Chapin Carpenter
3. I can’t forget the night I met you - You Call it Madness, Diana Krall
4. Papa come quick, Jody’s gone to the city - Papa Come Quick, (Jody and Chico), Bonnie Raitt
5. Looking out on the morning rain – Feel Like a Natural Woman, Carole King
6. I went out walking through streets paved with gold – The Wanderer, Johnny Cash and U2
7. Heaven . . . I’m in heaven – Cheek to Cheek, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
8. Whatcha gonna do with all that junk? – My Humps, Fergie/Black Eyed Peas
9. No, I would not give you false hope – Mother and Child Reunion, Paul Simon
10. The charter bus ride is getting to me – Porter’s Tale, Eddie From Ohio
11. T’was just a garden in the rain – Garden in the Rain, Diana Krall
12. I’m undecided about you again – O’ Sailor, Fiona Apple
13. Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air – Something in the Air, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
14. Oh yeah I tell you something I think you’ll understand – I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles
15. You’re older than you’ve ever been and now you’re even older – Older, They Might Be Giants
16. When we were young we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives – Stones in the Road, Mary Chapin Carpenter
17. Same old place, same old city – Oh, Atlanta, Allison Krauss
18. My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue – Tapestry, Carole King
19. This old house has been boarded up – This Old House, Robbie Schaefer
20. I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes here in the ashtray – Good Year for the Roses, Elvis Costello and the Attractions
21. This shirt is old and faded, all the colors washed away – This Shirt, Mary Chapin Carpenter
22. I don’t want you, but I hate to lose you – Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Ella Fitzgerald
23. How glad the many millions of Jonathans and Williams would be . . . to capture me – I’ve Got a Crush on You, Sarah Vaughn
24. Nothing’s impossible, I have found – Pick Yourself Up, Anita O’Day
25. Got my work clothes on for love, sweat and dirt – Grand Central Station, Mary Chapin Carpenter

This was fun! I'll have to do this again sometime soon.

Name Those Random Lyrics!

This is a fun meme that’s making the rounds and I just felt like trying it. It was that kind of day. The rules are:

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike through when someone gets them right
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING.

This is going to be interesting, since some songs I listen to have been covered a billion times, and some songs are fairly obscure. Also, I was working off the lyrics as I actually heard them, so there might be some slight discrepancies, but nothing too bad. Do try to guess! In fact, you don't have to guess them all at once, just ones you recognize will suffice.

I’ll post the answers in a couple of days . . .

1. I got the heebies, I got the heebie jeebies
2. River full of stones when there is no rain
3. I can’t forget the night I met you
4. Papa come quick, Jody’s gone to the city
5. Looking out on the morning rain
6. I went out walking through streets paved with gold
7. Heaven . . . I’m in heaven
8. Whatcha gonna do with all that junk?
9. No, I would not give you false hope
10. The charter bus ride is getting to me
11. T’was just a garden in the rain
12. I’m undecided about you again
13. Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air
14. Oh yeah I tell you something I think you’ll understand
15. You’re older than you’ve ever been and now you’re even older
16. When we were young we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives
17. Same old place, same old city
18. My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
19. This old house has been boarded up
20. I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes here in the ashtray
21. This shirt is old and faded, all the colors washed away
22. I don’t want you, but I hate to lose you
23. How glad the many millions of Jonathans and Williams would be . . . to capture me
24. Nothing’s impossible, I have found
25. Got my work clothes on for love, sweat and dirt

Because All I Have Time for Are Random Memes

You Are Ginger

Like ginger, you are a total shape shifter. You can be sweet, spicy, mellow, or overpowering. You are both soothing and unique. You are popular... yet you are often overlooked.

What Spice Are You?

What Time of Day Am I?

You are 10:02 a.m.

You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes.

Auld Lang Syne – A Random Look Back at the Blog in 2007

I couldn’t resist doing this meme and today I actually have time to do it. You know the rules – slap down the first paragraph of the first post of each month of last year:

January: There was a meme going around for a while where you posted the first sentence that you wrote on your blog each month for the past year. Today seemed a rather appropriate day to do so . . .

(side note: Yup, I did this last year. That month I also went to view Gerald Ford’s casket at the Capitol, played a bit with my new camera, went to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and queried about using cell phones in restaurants.)

February: Well, actually, I’m not one of those people who bite their nails – mine usually just break off at inopportune times. My nails grow to be long pretty quickly, so unless I am hyper-vigilant about trimming them regularly, they start to get really annoying. I am at a loss to understand those folks who have the big press-on-nails – how can they type? Or rip open a box? They just seem so dainty . . . and I am so not dainty . . .

(side note: That was the month I started getting nervous about a medical problem, went to a Super Bowl party, did some Scribbling Challenges, continued to teach ESL, had my 300^th post, got hooked on Gilmore Girls reruns, saw the Capitals and the Wizards in the same week, played in the snow and first got wind of possible layoffs at the Random Non-profit.)

March: Finally got the results from the doctor yesterday. Mr. Random was right there by my side as the doctor said . . . that the tests showed about what he thought they would, and that I have no reason to worry – things should be OK.

(side note: Big sigh of relief, there were layoffs, did a book meme, found out my sister was going to Iraq, was feeling pretty low.)

April: As promised, here are all of the books that are stacked up by my bed at the moment. Mind you, these are just the books sitting BY MY BED and not in the living room, den, guest room, and elsewhere in the bedroom that are also begging to be read - such as Mr. Random's major stacks.

(side note: Also took my first spinning class, did the Easter thing, dealt with the fallout from the layoffs, had a visit from the Random Mom-in-Law, started on the Shakespeare Project and went to see Edward III, celebrated the 2 year anniversary of the blog, briefly celebrated Poetry Month.)

May: It’s May already! April went by so quickly . . . too quickly. There was a project that I meant to finish last month, which I had not yet started on. I definitely have to finish it this month or else I won’t have certain options available to me in the Fall . . . options that might be able to get me away from the Random Non-Profit sooner, rather than later . . .

(side note: Started visiting my Grandma at her new location in the Boonies of Virginia, saw more Shakespeare plays, got the new vanity for the bathroom, Mr. Random left the Random Non-profit for the Random Publication.)

June: Last Friday night, Mr. Random, my friend J, and I went to see Love’s Labors Lost at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Northwest DC. The play is this year’s Shakespeare Theater’s “Free for All” performance.

(side note: Got a new iPod, had family issues, ESL subbing, had more angst.)

July: On Saturday, I went to see Tom Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at DC’s Studio Theater. This play fit in very well with our ongoing Shakespeare project, since the main characters are two minor characters in Hamlet who aren’t mentioned often but do have something integral to do with the plot. They are old friends of Hamlet’s who are sent to keep him company and find out why he is behaving so oddly. They play delves quite a bit into the nature of life and death, while giving a backstory of the types of characters who are usually just afterthoughts in plays.

(side note: Also saw Hamlet and the nude Macbeth, Fringe Festival and lots of kvetching.)

August: That’s today’s New Yorker daily calendar cartoon caption and I feel like that’s what the last few days of this blog have been – The blogosphere is a big cocktail party, and the hostess has to pull people aside and say to them, “Would you be a dear and sit with Random Kath? She’s seems a bit cranky lately . . .”

(side note: August was “spend no money” month, took pictures at a comedy open-mike, AC died at the Random Condo, went back to college, very excited but very anxious.)

September: Yup, school has started and I am trying to get into the swing of things. I am still overwhelmed and freaked out, but at the moment it is the usual Random Kath level of overwhelmed and freaked out, so things are semi-normal.

(side note: More open mike pictures, did a 5K, Mr. Random and I had an anniversary.)

October: I have two exams this week so in theory I shouldn’t be writing anything at all until after they are over on Friday afternoon.

(side note: Got a 97 on both exams, did some touristy sightseeing, bought new shoes, saw Michael Clayton, more Random Non-profit angst, my sister came home for R&R, saw another Shakespeare play.)

November: I have a 4 page paper due for my International Relations class this evening and, of course, I put off writing anything until last night. I HAVE been doing research for the past week or so, so I’m not a total slacker, but for some reason I just could not get myself girded to write anything until last night.

(side note: More Shakespeare, Grandmama drama, crashing bookcases, slogging through school.)

December: My word! It’s December already. Here’s my update on stuff so far – I’m going to start with the happier stuff first.

(side note: More layoffs, more angst, letter for a Newborn Girl, memes, ended being optimistic.)

Whew! That one took a while to do. Glad that’s over for this year . . .

Isn't It Romantic? . . .

As seen on Scrivener's blog today . . .

I am rather pleased . . .

You Are Romanticism

You are likely to see the world as it should be, not as it is. You prefer to celebrate the great things people do... not the horrors they're capable of. For you, there is nothing more inspiring than a great hero. You believe that great art reflects the artist's imagination and true ideals.

What Art Movement Are You?

A Christmas Meme

(Found at Terminal Degree’s blog)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper! Gift bags are expensive and often stuff doesn’t fit, especially if the box is big.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. Which sucks because we live on the top floor of a walk-up condo and dragging a real tree up and down all those stairs would not be fun. I love the smell of real pine and I miss it . . .

3. When do you put up the tree? At least a week before Christmas, but usually don’t decorate it until a day or two before.

4. When do you take the tree down? Shortly after Epiphany – usually the next weekend.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but not too thick – I hate thick egg nog, it just gets the gag reflex going . . . so if you make thick egg nog, warn me beforehand and I’ll try to cut it with some milk or rum or something . . .

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Books! Always books!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a teeny one. I’ve always meant to start collecting them and get some ones of diverse backgrounds, but I never get around to it until it’s right before Christmas and too late to get a decent one.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Me – because I hate asking for things, and I’m usually happy just to get stuff for other folks.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. She loves any type of puzzles and loves old movies.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever got? I’ve received a lot of really unfortunate sweaters.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail . . . when I remember. I actually did send out cards this year, but usually I intend to send “New Year’s” cards and fail miserably . . .

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Scrooged. Oh, and there was once a Christmas movie on the Family Channel that starred Andy Dick (yes, seriously!) that I adored the couple of years that they played it . . . I should have taped it. I must find it, if I could ever remember the title . . .

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November, online.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? To Goodwill? Oh, yes . . .

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Freshly baked cookies, with egg nog, on Christmas eve.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored! Must. Have. Colored. Lights. Non-negotiable.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Pretty much most of them. Especially all of the ones we sing in the choir for the Advent/Christmas season. Least favorite? Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Christmas in Washington. Christmas Shoes. (I have a rant about this song which is several layers of sacrilegious, otherwise I would share . . . but darn, that song is SO schlocky, and I’m usually very forgiving of Christmas music.)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home. Mr. Random always threatens to want to travel across the country to visit his mom and sister, but then I remind him of how this time of year is travel hell. I’m not budging. Besides we have our own traditions now, after 10 years, and I’d hate to give them up.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Only if I say them as part "Night Before Christmas."

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A big red bow. To match the smaller red bows sprinkled around the tree.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Shopping in crowds. But I hate that any time of the year.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Everything! The Music! The Food! The Time Off! What’s not to love?

Five Random Reasons

CS had this meme on her blog, which I wasn’t sure if I did before, but thought I’d do anyway. My memory sucks and I’m too lazy to comb through the archives . . .

Five Reasons Why I Blog

Procrastination

I find I write my best blog posts when I am supposed to be doing something else. It’s amazing how many great ideas spring forth, how eloquent I can get, when I’m supposed to be doing some highly tedious and/or annoying task. Like right now, for example . . .

Community

I adore the people who come visit my blog. You all lead such interesting and varied lives, and I learn so much from you all. It also seems to be a rather small blog world – it seems when looking through people’s blogrolls I more often than not recognize a blog or two that I read regularly.

Exercising my writing muscles

I have never been able to keep up a journal in real life, so this space is an opportunity to practice the art of writing, a place for me to find my voice . . . whatever that may be . . .

Ego

I must admit that it is king of cool to have people read what I write – and then come back for more. Wow! I may actually have something interesting to say once in a while!

Catharsis/Free Therapy

I lot of times I am trying to work things out in my head, and sometimes it helps to put tangible words to what I’m feeling and put it out there in the world. In my real life, I am horrible about stating what I want and what I am feeling – I tend to defer to others: What do you want? How do you feel? How can I make it better for you? What do you need help with? So when I am not happy, when I want something, I feel . . . I guess . . . horrible . . . about stating a preference. I have to get over that, because I’m not going to progress unless I figure out what will make me happy. It’s a balancing act though – you don’t want to be too selfish and ignore the needs of those close to you, while at the same time you have to stand up for yourself. It is a struggle for me – a struggle that I guess I’m documenting here.

Sometimes it may seem like I’m saying the same stuff over and over (and I probably am), but it is necessary until I finally get certain things into my thick skull and internalize them, and then either fix them or quit bitching about them.

So that’s me for today! If anyone wants to do this meme, have at it.

Me, Alphabetically

I saw this meme over at CS’s place. She has such lovely pictures accompanying hers – she takes such beautiful pictures in general. She’s such an inspiration!

Here’s all about me from A to Z:

A is for Age: 36 years old, will be 37 in October.

B is for Beer of choice: Not really a beer drinker, but if forced I’ll go for a stout or a porter – yes, I like a drink that can double as a meal . . .

C is for Career: BWAAAAAH HA HA HA HA! Oh, wait, I guess I do have an actual career. I’m a middle manager at a national non-profit.

D is for favorite Drink: Oooh, a creamy, warm cup of Chai Tea. Smell the spices! Taste the goodness as it warms your tummy!

E is for Essential item(s) you use everyday: My glasses. I would be literally and figuratively lost without them.

F is for Favorite song at the moment: Do you mean the one that’s stuck in my head right now? “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer.

G is for favorite Game: Scrabble. Especially with a foursome. That’s a full evening’s entertainment right there . . .

H is for How about whatever favorite I choose: Favorite vacation spot – a B&B across the street from the water in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard

I is for Instruments played: Clarinet and, briefly, violin. Would love to get a piano and learn that.

J is for favorite Juice: Lemon, especially when made into lemonade! Can also be used in a number of awesome recipes. You can’t go wrong with lemon juice . . .

K is for Kids: None yet, but would like one or two.

L is for Last kiss: Peck to Mr. Random when he dropped me off at work this morning.

M is for Marriage: Will be married 9 years in September.

N is for full Name: Well that’s easy. Kath Random, a.k.a wife of Mr. Random, formerly Kath Maiden Name. What? . . . Problem?

O is for Overnight hospital stays: Not since I was born (knock wood!)

P is for Phobias: Flying. Driving long distances by myself. Eating organ meats. Eating fungi. Speaking up, unless I am really miffed. Giving birth.

Q is for Quote: “Outta my way, you bums!” – Obviously not mine, but a friend of mine is trying to make that his new catch phrase . . . This phrase is especially useful when driving.

R is for biggest Regret: I really try not to have them – everything leads to something else – but there are some people that I wish I had met sooner in my life than later.

S is for Sports: I love to go the baseball games when I can. I love to watch soccer. And while I don’t really follow many sports closely, I still like reading the sports pages and listening to some ESPN shows. It’s all about the personalities involved. I currently listen to podcasts of ESPN’s PTI, Around the Horn, and Bill Simmons everyday. Have the time the conversation really isn’t about sports, it’s more about human nature.

T is for Time you wake up: The alarm always goes off at 6:15. I am usually sitting up by 7, whether by choice or by the entreaties of the Random Cat.

U is for color Underwear: {blush} My underwear comes in all different colors. I don’t quite have matching sets yet, but I’m getting closer.

V is for Vegetable you love: Wow, that’s hard! Corn. Green beans. Peas. Broccoli. I’d say potato, but that’s more of a starch.

W is for Worst habit: I am the worst pack rat ever. It pains me to throw paper away. Same with magazines. I am the queen of the piles.

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Dental, of course. Do sonograms count?

Y is for Yummy food you make: Cheesecakes! My dad loves my banana pudding. My grandma loves my tuna casserole. Brazilian fish stew, with black beans and spread over rice. Mr. Random likes anything I make.

Z is for Zodiac sign: Scorpio!

Anybody else want a go at this A to Z? It's all yours . . .

Eight Random Things About Random Kath

Steve G. at Philosopher’s Playground tagged me for this meme, so here it goes . .

- Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1) I had perfect attendance all through school, up until my senior year of high school when I had to miss days to go to my Grandpa’s funeral.

2) Since high school, all of my best friends have been guys. I’m just not really girly. I think it has to do with my inferiority complex – I always think other women must think I’m deficient in some way, that I lack some female companionship gene that allows me to have womanly conversations. Now I have lots of women friends, just not really best friends.

3) However, I only had one other real boyfriend before I met Mr. Random, and that was when I was 24. I was more of a “little sister” type, which was fine by me. Besides, I never really wanted to date any the guys I was friends with – I knew them much too well and saw how they acted around actual girls. One of my friends actually said “don’t date me or let any of your friends date me.” It turned out to be great advice, since he was such a hound. The nicest, most congenial guy you’d ever meet though. Great to go to happy hours with, just not very good at handling serious relationships.

4) I don’t like eating mushrooms. The whole fungus thing freaks me out.

5) I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the drums. Percussion sounds like it would be such a stress reliever, to be able to bang along on something.

6) I enjoy discussing topics with people face to face, even though I feel that I am horrible at speaking. Often I can see in my head what I mean, but the words just don’t want to come out. I talk with my hands a lot . . . too much sometimes. I often have to remind myself to sit on my hands, so they don’t become distracting to others. On the other hand, I probably should learn sign language at some point – where hand gestures are encouraged and useful . . .

7) As much as I love teaching ESL to adults, I don’t know if I’d ever like to do it professionally. All the paperwork and rules would just drive me crazy. Teaching on a volunteer basis, there's no real pressure and I can tailor the lessons however I want. I like the low key-ness of it all. Now, I am very rigorous and organized in how I teach and I make sure that everyone understands the concepts that we are trying to impart over a semester, but teaching once a week is different from teaching five days a week.

8) My favorite type of ice cream is cinnamon.


I’m lousy at following meme directions, and I think most people have done this one, so I am not going to assign this to anyone else. If you are moved to do it, though, please let me know!

Books I've Read Meme

BOOKS I’VE READ MEME (Taken from Thinking About . . .)

*Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read.
*Italicize the ones you want to read.
*leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
*If you are reading this, tag you’re it.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

A lot of these books I read so long ago that I can barely remember any of the plot points, so many of them could definitely use a re-reading.

Some of them I started reading and then stopped because I just couldn't stand them and life is MUCH too short (I'm looking at YOU, Poisonwood Bible!)

Some of these are books I'd like to read, but I have so many other books waiting for me that are nowhere on this list - for example there isn't that much non-fiction on here at all . . . so if anyone can find a non-fiction list, that would be great . . .

Enjoy!