Time wastin'!

Okay, I found this over at Tracey's and had to do it.

56 Superfluous Questions:

1.ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?

There's a little round scar just below the thumb on the back of my left hand. It came after I got a skin reaction to a plant called poison parsnip. (Apparently, in sensitive people, when they get the sap on them and it's exposed to the sun, it makes big nasty water blisters, almost like a burn).

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM? I have some photographs of my family, and a red glittery script "Dream" word, and an angel with a quotation from Judy Garland about it being better to be a first-rate "you" than a second-rate "someone else"


3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? 6:25 am. And yes, I checked my birth certificate for that.

4. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? Actually, I cannot think of anything I personally want. If I may "bring the room down" by saying it? I want the people of Myanmar to have a government that does not suck.

5. WHAT DO YOU MISS? Having lots of interesting things within walking distance of me.

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION? I still have one of my childhood toys. It's kind of embarrassing to talk about it but it is the one thing I'd think of grabbing if my house were on fire. Because of the memories associated with it and because I've had it for over 30 years.

7. HOW TALL ARE YOU? I tell people 5' 9" but I'm actually closer to 5' 7".

8. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DAY? No, unless a Civil Defense siren is going off and it's not a test.

9. WHAT’S YOUR WORST FEAR? Realistic or unrealistic? Realistic: that one of my parents will become seriously disabled and will have no quality of life. Unrealistic: that the government will be taken over and turned into something like something out of 1984 or Brave New World.

10. WHAT KIND OF HAIR COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX? Oh, probably brown, but I'm not all that picky. The only one I really DON'T like is that red-head color that comes with the white eyebrows and eyelashes because the pale eyelash-red hair combo creeps me out. (Now, if he DYED his eyelashes, I'd be ok. I mean, dyed them a normal color. If they were green or something that would be even worse.)

11. WHAT ABOUT EYE COLOR? I don't really care - slight preference for brown.

12. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK? Neither. You don't want to see me caffeinated. You wouldn't like me when I'm caffeinated.

13. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING? Ham and pineapple. (Yes, really.)

14. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Actually, I'm not hungry right now so I can't think of anything that appeals to me.

15. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME? sage green.

16. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH? You mean the cracker things, or the real goldfish? I've eaten the crackers but the thought of swallowing a whole live fish makes me feel slightly ill.

17. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED? The first memorable one was a big set of 36 colored pencils that my dad gave me for Christmas one year. I still have them though some of the colors have been replaced over the years.

18. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH? Yes, I do. No, I'm not going to tell you his name. You don't know him, anyway. (No, he isn't anyone famous.)

19. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND? Um...I really don't pay attention to brands.

20. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU WANT? If it gets decent mileage and if it doesn't break down, I'm happy. When I was younger I loved the old British convertibles like MGs but I've since learned how lousy their repair records are.

21. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING? I honestly don't think I could. I can't fall in love with someone who's unavailable (in the sense of "he's married" or "he's already got a girlfriend"), either.

22. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA? Yes.

23. YOUR WEAKNESSES? I'm going to assume this means like character flaws. I'm very self-critical, I tend to avoid doing things that make me uncomfortable, I don't like saying things that I'm afraid will make people angry even if they are things that need to be said.

24. MET ANYONE FAMOUS? Not that I can think of.

25. FIRST JOB? Supervising high-school students in a summer enrichment class. They were all boys. One of them was my brother. Actually, I don't know if that counts as a "job" because I actually didn't get paid.

26. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL? Probably did when I was a pre-teen but I don't remember specifics now.

27. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOUL MATE? No. I do not believe that everyone has a soul mate. Because if I did, that would imply I wasn't looking hard enough.

28. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT? Reading Tracey's blog.

29. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY? Does wisdom-tooth extraction count?

30. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST? My intelligence, responsibility, and leadership qualities.

31. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY? Peace, love, and understanding. Failing that, a couple more bookshelves.

32. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT? None. Other people are welcome to them.

33. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of.

34. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST TURN OFF WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX? Guys who have to show the world how "important" they are by being rude to other people. Guys who in general seem to be "compensating" for something by having to have a flashy car or fancy clothes or something like that. You are you. You are not your stuff. If you don't think you're worthy of my attention without your stuff, you probably aren't.

35. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU MISS ABOUT GRADE SCHOOL? Art class. Getting to take an hour every couple of days and play with clay or paint or do something like that.

36. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE? Clairol Herbal Essences, I switch between the one for long hair and the one for curly hair.

37. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, it looks like an 11 year old boy's.

38. ANY BAD HABITS? I am kind of a slob.

39. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON? I try not to be but sometimes I am.

40. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I think I would. I have a good sense of humor and I am a nice person. I also tend to randomly bake cookies and give them to people.

41. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS? Shudder. No.

42. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER? Lately, I've been cutting brush. (No, that is not a euphemism for something else. I literally am removing privet and trimming the limbs on my holly trees.)

43. WHAT’S YOUR MAIN GOAL IN LIFE? currently? Making Full Professor.

44. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? Either my Snoopy doll or my Kermit the Frog doll.

45. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE? Eight or ten, except two of them are of people who are moving away soon so I need to get rid of those...

46. WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID? Please. I'm OLD. When I was a child, "Barney" meant Barney Rubble. And I thought Barney Rubble was a FREAK.

47. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE? Mashed potatoes.

48. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES? Yes, thank goodness.

49. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM? In my "office" room, yes. In my "bedroom," no. One of the nice things about being a grown up with a house is that there are at least several rooms and they are all technically "yours."

50. PLANS FOR TONIGHT? Watching some tv, doing some test-knitting on a pattern a friend wrote (she wants to be sure there are no errors in it)

51. WHAT’S THE FASTEST YOU’VE EVER GONE IN A CAR? 85. It was on a country road. In Montana.

52. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? "Ghost Whisperer" is on in the other room

53. LAST THING YOU DRANK? Big glass of water. I mowed the lawn today and I'm still thirsty from it.

54. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT? Currently more Republican than Democrat but neither party totally blows my skirt up at the moment.

55. DO YOU HAVE A LOW SELF ESTEEM OR A HIGH SELF ESTEEM? My self-esteem is pretty good; my self-confidence needs some work.

56. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Right now something called "Mass-Observation in World War II" which is about a group of British citizens who were hired to keep diaries of what their opinions were and what they experienced during the 1939-1945 time period (or at least those are the dates covered by the book; it may have gone on longer than that). It's pretty fascinating to see the wide range of opinions from the quite bloodthirsty ("Let the German civilians have a taste of what we've had" about bombings of non-military-base cities) to more reticent ("I don't see why we have to kill women and children, too.") Also interesting in that until about mid 1943, there was a lot of real concern that the war would be lost, and what life would be like if Germany dominated the Continent. Interestingly, not much complaining about blackouts or having to spend time in Anderson shelters or about rationing - they TALK about it but there's a sense of "this is what we must do now" and not really much bitterness.

so there you are.