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- What’s the longest distance you’ve ever traveled? I flew from Chicago to Romania (via Austria) in 2000 just after graduating for a mission trip. Within the states, I’m not sure which was worse – driving to Atlanta from the Twin Cities, or driving to Arizona from the Twin Cities. Both were freaking long trips.
- What’s the longest distance you’ve ever walked? That would have to be the time this summer that
 and I walked from his house (or relatively nearby) to the MOA and back. Actually, that’s not true at all. The summer after my freshman year of high school, I went on a camping trip at my church camp that was actually a hiking and biking trip. We spent the first week hiking along 12-mile beach in the Upper Peninsula, about 6-10 miles per day with 50+ pound packs. The second week was spent biking back to camp, about 60 miles per day (at least, that’s what they told us – what did I know, I was only 14).
- How far away is the friend/relative who lives the longest distance from you?
 lives in Boston, and that’s pretty far away. Mentally running through the list of other far-off friends,  is in Wisconsin,  and  are in Illinois (as well as a slew of other people), my grandma lives in Florida, and my aunt and uncle and some cousins live in Michigan. So, yeah, wins.
- When you’re in the privacy of your own home, what–if anything–do you tend to read while you’re in the bathroom? I don’t read in the bathroom, unless I’m taking a bath, which happens so rarely. If I’m so inclined, it would have to be something I wouldn’t care about accidentally dropping, so I’m gonna go with a women’s mag like Cosmo (trash).
- How did you first learn about your current job? They called me up for an interview. I honestly don’t remember sending in my resume, but I was applying for anything that I might be remotely qualified for at the time. They saved me from a really boring temp job.
- On this date in 1915, American Telephone and Telegraph Company engineers in Arlington, Virginia, initiated the very first transatlantic radiotelephone call (they called a telephone placed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France). What was the last country you placed a call to besides your own? I have never called another country. When I was in Romania, I think I made a call or two back home, but I don’t think that counts.
- If you had picked the winning numbers in this week’s Powerball Jackpot, which was worth an estimated $340,000,000.00, you would have been given the option of choosing between a one-time cash payment of $170 Million, or 30 annual payments of approximately $5.6 Million each. Which would you choose and why? I think I could handle the annual payments. The lump sum might not go so well (I don’t do so well with money, and with the annual payments, even if I blew it all in January, there’d be more next year, which would be something great to look forward to).
I’ve got about 10 memes up in my browser. We’ll see which ones I actually complete.
The Music Memoirs
Top 5 Crying Songs (interpret as you wish)
- “All By Myself” by Jamie o’Neal comes to mind, from that scene in Bridget Jones’ Diary that I hope I never feel led to replicate
- “One Moment More” by Mindy Smith
- “Concrete Angel” by Martina McBride
- To be totally cheesy, “Friends” by Michael W Smith
- “Little Girl” by John Michael Montgomery
Friday Fandango [link removed]
- Have you ever kissed another blogger’s ass fawningly admired another blogger (on your blog or their comments) just because you think of them as a blog world celebrity? Not because I thought of them as a celebrity, but I have given high praise because I thought they were cool.
- Have you ever avoided another blogger because you considered them to be inferior (poor grammar, bad design, boring read, crappy photographs, lousy blog platform, etc.)? I haven’t avoided another blogger (seeing as how I don’t really know any in person), but I have avoided their blogs. It’s just not worth my time (which is a huge insult considering I’m bored out of my skull at work looking for the slightest bit of entertainment).
- Have you ever left a comment out of pity (because it was so obvious that they weren’t as popular as you!)? Um, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt someone wasn’t as popular as I am. Clearly this question was not written for me.
- And last, but not least, have you ever giggled like a little girl because “a playful primate” [link removed] graced you with a comment or a link back? I’ve giggled like a little girl, but never because I got a comment or a link back. I’ve smiled and been happy with comments though.
Friday Fiver: I have the most terrible rabbit infestation
- What’s your favorite animated characters? Winnie The Pooh
- Violence in cartoons – funny or harmful? Horrible unless it’s clearly adult-oriented cartoons, and even then I think it might just be sugar-coated crap that kids are going to watch anyways and it’ll lead to the downfall of our society (that might be taking it a bit far… melodrama anyone?)
- Can you do any impressions? Not well. I do a halfway decent Miracle Max’s wife (from The Princess Bride, “liar, liar!”) and … something else. I can never seem to remember both impressions that I do at the same time. Always forgetting one of them. Probably because neither are really worth the time (though it is often fun to yell “liar, liar!” at work.
- Would you consider yourself artistic? Autistic? No, wait. Um, depends on your definition of artistic. Let’s go with creative.
- What’s your favorite type of cheese? I have to pick a favorite? Don’t you know they’re all good? It depends what we’re talking about here. I mean, Havarti is good on a turkey sandwich, whole-milk mozzarella is just… mmm, and there’s nothing like a good pepperjack with avocados and fried eggs on an English muffin.
Four for Friday
- When you were in high school or college, did you purchase/wear a class or school ring? If so, do you wear it anymore? I don’t weary my class ring anymore (just like I don’t wear my letter jacket – that’s so 10 years ago), but I do often wear my grandmother’s class ring. I was very proud of my own class ring throughout high school though, seeing as how I paid for it all by myself.
- How often do you use a public or college or university library? What’s the last book you checked out of a library? I haven’t been to the library in a while. I went a few weeks ago to use the internet and found I couldn’t without a library card, and so I left. Because the last books I checked out of the library were returned… very late, and I think they still want money from me. I consider that the new wing on my public library back home in Illinois was funded mostly through my late fines. Strange, since I worked at a library in college (and
 does). But in college I could auto-renew them while at work, so that helped.
- Earlier this week, Apple introduced a video-enabled version of its ubiquitous iPod. Do you own an iPod or MP3 player? If so, do you download and listen to non-music podcasts? If you do listen to podcasts, which ones are you currently subscribed/listening to? If you do not own an iPod or comparable device, would you like to have one? If so, do you think you’d use your new iPod mostly for music or podcasts? My pda runs Windows Media Player, which is all I need these day. No podcasts for me.
- How concerned are you about a widespread outbreak of what’s being called the Avian Flu? I only thought about it briefly and wondered about friends, having spent a bit of time in Romania. When they had some flooding a few months back, I emailed to see if her friends were OK, since she spent 6 months there, but I didn’t think the Avian Flu was worthy of another email.
It’s freezing in my house tonight – 62 last time I checked, but it’s getting colder. Landlords could turn the heat on anytime now. I keep reminding myself of all the people not a mile from here sleeping outside. At least I know that soon I’ll have heat, and until then I have warm blankets and cats to snuggle with and hot tea if I really wanted it (it’s late, gotta go decaf).
The cats have been all over me tonight. I think they know that if we keep together we’ll stay warmer. I cleaned tonight. The chair in front of the TV is now available for sitting, though arguably still too close to the TV for comfortable viewing. It’d be a good place to read a book and listen to music. The stacks of papers on my desk and hamper and elsewhere are gone. I even organized my bills and did some shredding.
So at 10 pm when there’s nothing left to do and its freezing in your house, what do you do? Well, given my options, I chose sleep. Only I wasn’t tired. So I’ve been reading and playing games on my pda, and might be tired enough soon. Its going to be painful getting out of bed tomorrow. I’ve got a skirt outfit all laid out for tomorrow – how much do you want to bet I don’t wear it? I did give in and pull out a late-fall jacket. Realized, sadly, the one I was thinking of had a broken zipper last year and was sent to Goodwill. So my Judson one came out – it’s huge and I always feel a bit silly but also terribly comfortable in it. I’m sure the fashion police don’t approve, but sometimes sentiment wins out over style.
thinks it’d be a great idea if tomorrow night we do something neither of us has done before. It’s a good idea, and creative, if we can think of something. Of course, there’s lots of things I haven’t done. I’m really no fun in that “I’ve Never…” game, not that I’ve ever been invited to play (so all of you who have, drink up!). Really, though, it’s silly to say that, because there are plenty of things I’ve done that lots of people haven’t. I’ve:
- preached a sermon.
- tried to chew a whole package of grape Hubba Bubba.
- taught English in Romania, been to the square in Timisoara where the revolution against communism in that country began, and seen the lions at the entrance to the bridge in Budapest that the sculptor committed suicide after completing when he noticed he forgot to give them tongues.
- seen fireworks on the fourth of July over the San Francisco Bay with a boy I could have married.
- fed the homeless in more cities than I care to count, breakfast, lunch and dinner, vegetarian, soup and bread, cafeteria line turkey and mashed potatoes.
- backed a 12-passenger van into a tree in a parking lot I’d been in so many times it was ridiculous.
- seen the Nutcracker, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Les Miserables (twice).
- stood in Lake Superior up to my thighs in freezing water.
- had poison ivy.
- fallen up a flight of stairs, including a charming incident freshman year of high school.
- fallen asleep in the middle of a French exam, woke up and finished it, and passed.
- slept through two years of high school math.
- adopted stray cats from the woods and a parking lot.
- worn a blond wig to complete a Halloween costume.
- spent entire weekends without leaving the house.
- taken rides from strangers multiple times when my car has broken down.
- been sunburnt so bad I was sick for days.
- lost a toenail.
- tickled
 until she cried.
- yelled and screamed and shouted “I hate you” and slammed doors.
- held my tongue even when provoked.
- told the truth when its been painful.
- worn ‘s bell-bottoms from the 70′s.
- hugged a redwood in Muir Woods.
- won tickets to a concert (several times).
- roofed a house.
- spent an entire day in bed with a good book.
- fallen in and out of love.
- sang in front of an audience with a microphone.
- read the entire Bible at least twice.
- been line dancing.
- forgiven.
- said I’m sorry.
- admitted I was wrong.
- eaten at a restaurant called The Big Texan.
- walked the Golden Gate Bridge.
- eaten fresh seafood at Pike Place, Pier 39, and Cape Hatteras.
- worn a large yellow banana suit while lip syncing and dancing.
- climbed up a ropes course to balance 70 feet in the air on a log with a friend.
- cried on a plane when seeing Chicago first come into view ( – that makes four times I’ve cried in public).
- been stuck in the top of a closet and in a swing at a park.
- been pooped on by a bird.
- won Trivial Pursuit (albeit by the grace and kindness of
 and  ).
Well, I feel better about me now. Your turn – add a few of your own to the comments.
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