New Quiz

A new quiz since the other wouldn't link up correctly . . .

Oh, and listen . . . before you read on, I have to say I'm very unhappy with my results. I've been lumped together with Britney Spears and HITLER. Yep. That's me. So, who will you resemble? LOL.

Your Inner Blood Type is Type A

You seem cool and collected, though a bit shy. You are highly driven and a perfectionist, but that's a side you keep to yourself. Creative and artistic, you are a very unique person who doesn't quite fit in. People accept you more than you realize, seeing you as trustworthy and loyal. You are most compatible with: A and AB Famous Type A's: Britney Spears and Hilter

What's" Your Inner Blood Type?

Calculate Pi by Throwing Hot Dogs

I'm serious. Here's the link (especially for my special geeky friend who shall remain nameless (Honey). She's pi-obsessed:

http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Pi-by-Throwing-Frozen-Hot-Dogs

Holiday Tag!

I was tagged by The Pam and Lillian Feisty for a holiday quiz. Thanks, ladies! This was fun.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate. Any chocolate. YUM.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, unless they're big, like the tobaggen when we were kids, or my kids kitchen set.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Usually. *smooch*

5. When do you put your decorations up? 2-3 weeks before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Er, chocolate yule log, of course.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I think all my Christmas memories are from the same year -- I was about six. We got sleds, and I got an Easy Bake oven, a kid-size ironing board and broom (hey, times were different then) and golden books. I loved books even then. *sigh* Oh, and hand-knitted mittens and slippers.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Sorry, Dad, but I woke up (Eaton Hwy) and heard you and Mom talking down in the basement (I think you were watching the Johnny Cash show). Anyway, I tiptoed down the steps and saw you putting together a tricycle. I tricked myself into forgetting it for a few more years, then kids at St. Mikes told me while I was taking off my winter boots. Oh, the trauma!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We always let the kids -- we don't open any of ours.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We have a eclectic collection of ornaments from cheap to very nice, most sentimental in some way. colored lights. red bows. no tinsel or garland. popcorn or cranberry strings or paper link chains if the kids do it.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love to look at it -- it's truly beautiful at times. Don't like being cold or driving on ice and snow. Like The Pam, I grew up in Michigan, which has harsher winters than here in eastern Washington.

12. Can you ice skate? I skated "just okay" when I was a kid. Not at all now.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I loved the above gifts too, but one year I got a fold-out large doll house with furniture, etc. I loved that best.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I love two things: children's joy (because the non-religious part is for them) and midnight candlelight mass (to celebrate the spiritual reason for it).

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hey, the chocolate yule log!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Playing holiday music while trimming the tree.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night. Patti LaBelle's version especially.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Too sweet, and not chocolate. :)

Let's see, Honey and Lucy were also tagged, and I'm sure one them will nail K, who will nail A, Feisty got Meg, so I'll tag Vivienne Lorret and Marly Mathews. Have fun!

Old Movies and Split Personalities

This last weekend I've been watching corny old movies full of romance and singing and dancing. White Christmas was one and is dh's favorite. When they sing "Snow", he gets goosebumps. I get a bit verklempt at other parts of the movie too.

We also watched Easter Parade. Why they're playing that for Christmas season I don't know, but I NEVER pass up an opportunity to watch Fred Astaire dance. What a master!

So, I have a split personality. Ellen One could live and breathe corny old-fashioned movies and church and living in a small town -- never leaving her house except for groceries and an occasional night out. Like June Cleaver.

Ellen Two loves the Firefly series (((Mal))). She's a wild child who wants to move every couple of years. I keep trying to talk dh into moving to Europe, where we and our children could have amazing experiences. Dh has the opposite of my wanderlust: stayputlust. So, we'll stay put. I guess Ellen number two is Holly Golightly--my RWAonline avatar suddenly makes sense. :)

Lillian Fiesty probably thinks I'm nuts since she'll soon be going through moving hell. (The process of moving sucks, but the "newness" is cool, right?).

Are you ever torn between two opposing parts of your personality?

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you enjoy your day, count your blessings, and reach out to those around you, loved ones and strangers alike. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A Real Laugh Riot

Okay, what kind of cuisine do you suppose we'll find here? ------>

Once again at a blog loss, I thought we could take a look at oh-so-funny things happening on our planet.

Only in Texas:

Sheriff Clint Low of Mason County hands out pink jumpsuits and slippers, paints the walls and bars pink as well as dyes the sheets pink, all in an effort to reduce repeat offenders and cut down on the vilonce in the jail. Reports repeat offenders down 70% and 0 fights since the revisions. Do men really hate pink this much? Should we apply this method to jails across the country?

In Vancouver, Jim Nelson attempting to reach "spiritual perfection" by fasting says the hell with it, breaks into condo and gorges himself on chilli, cream cheese and tortillas before passing out. Guess that fasting thing doesn't work.



Tracy Harper a British prostitute who took Matthew Bushell to court had the satisfaction of seeing him plead guilty and ordered to pay court costs after failing to pay for six hours of sex.



The Bestival music festival (Isle of Wight in the UK) had to change their circus theme after some ticket holders told them they had a phobia of clowns known as Coulrophobia.

You know . . . clowns really creep out my son. I didn't realize there was an actual phobia! Wow. What are your feelings on clowns?

Fun Contest!

I don't often join contests since:

a) I usually don't win

b) I usually don't care about the prize

But Vivienne Lorret is having a contest at her blog and the prize is a cute cowboy-hat charm bracelet. She had the local jeweler make it specifically for her upcoming release The Cowboy Way.

Go play!

Weekend break...

Boy, they tell a lot after three questions. *grin*

Your Personality Is

Idealist (NF) You are a passionate, caring, and unique person. You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals. You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily. Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings. You seek out other empathetic people to befriend. Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships. In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily. At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career. With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone. As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style. On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.

The Three Question Personality Test

Time Travel

Last night I helped my daughter with a school project. The scoring will be mostly about grammar -- using dressups (adverbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, etc), and learning to construct paragraphs into essay form. But the overall idea was this:

Imagine there was a group of kids stranded on a desert island and now it's fifty years later. Choose an invention (from the last 50 yrs) that they've never seen or heard of and try to explain it to them. Include the pros and cons, etc. She picked genetic cloning to save an extinct species -- which was actually quite interesting and a whole story of its own.

I started thinking (yikes!) about how many inventions there have been in the last 1/2 century. The world used to be so much simpler in so many ways. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm insane for history. If I could do one magical thing, I would be to travel through time.

If you could time travel to one place and time, to where/when would you go? I need to think about this myself since there are so many. It's going to be hard to narrow it down to one.

Though, I must say, there's a certain charm to the period of chivalry. To be a lady with a loyal knight bowing at her feet... *sigh*

By the way, I posed for this painting. Just so you know. That's me. *snort*

House and other news...

I love Tuesdays . . .

I don't know if any of you follow House, but for several episodes, our hero/anti-hero doctor meets his match in Detective Tritter, played by David Morse. The last couple of episodes have been great. Morse is such a phenomenal actor -- can't wait to see what he does next.

In other news, there is a new kind of pop-up book, and it ain't for kids, folks.

In the Pop-Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns, you get to see Tom Cruise popping up from Oprah's couch, Russell Crowe throwing a phone (it boings out from the page).

It's sick and wrong. It made me laugh.

What made you laugh today?

It's The Best Day Ever...Not

Seriously, if I have to hear Sponge Bob's "It's the best day eeeeever!" song one more time, I'm going to borrow one of my husband's ties and hang myself. There's some kind of movie marathon on. My son is obsessed. OBSESSED with Sponge Bob Square Pants. Hell, I like the little yellow guy too, but not 24/7. Where's that head banging into brick wall smiley when you need it?

What is everyone doing this weekend? Fun plans?

HELLO or FRIDAY AT THE MOVIES

How on God's Green Earth did I miss this new movie? The Fountain.

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

HUGH JACKMAN and Rachel Weisz star in this movie that looks more than intriguing from the little bit I've seen and read. It also stars Ellen Burstyn, whom I love. Oh, if you're Mel, please note photo #1, which rivals the Lost tongue. LOL.

In case you're wondering, I'm cheating on Gerard Bulter with Hugh. When I waxed romantic about Gerard, I'd forgotten that I'm about as faithful to the matinee idols as I am to my stories.

I first saw Hugh in a cute Australian movie called Paperback hero. He played a real macho guy who drove a semi, but secretly wrote romance novels. To avoid ridicule, he used his best friend (otherwise known as the girl he's secretly in love with) as a cover -- he wrote under her name. The problem is, he never told her until it was time to publicize the book. LOL. I wonder if I can get that on DVD.

I've seen him in several movies since then -- all good. I have NOT seen him as the claw-handed guy. K has. I believe she likes him in X-Men.

So, does anyone know anything about this new movie, The Fountain? Has anyone seen The Prestige, his other new release?

Are there any new movies out that you'd like to see, or can recommend?

Day in the News

In New Mexico, two tribal policemen who went through the Burger King drive-thru received burgers laced with pot. Gives a whole new meaning to "Have it Your Way." Read here. I hate that King guy, by the way.

Also, in the news: studies have shown that jet-lagged mice die young. So, you might want to cut down on international travel.

More about the poor little critters.


Britney Spears finally dumps that Kevin Federline dude. Why do I care about this? I don't. I think he's a loser with a giant "L", and she's a mess. But at least now we might not have to hear about their dysfunctional lives anymore. Divorce news here.

And of course, there's the election news. But if you care, you're already following it. If you don't care, then read about pot-laced burgers, mice, and stupid celebrities instead.

In news from my house, I volunteer at daughter's middle school today, plan to write at least 5 pages, and can't wait to chat with AG friends tonight.

What's happening in YOUR life today?

Which Kind of Car Are You?

I spent most of yesterday at the car dealership waiting for an auto repair that never came -- so I was given a loaner SUV to drive. This all got me thinking about cars...

I like our sedans okay -- they serve the purpose of a family of four (2 kids) and get decent gas mileage.

I liked the SUV -- being up high was fun, and I felt safe.

I like my mom's minivan -- fits lots of people.

But...the sedans are boring. The SUV and minivan felt like they'd roll over if I took a corner too fast. When I drove Dad's Chevy van as a teen, I launched it onto the yellow post at the bank's drive thru. You should've heard the teller yelling, "Turn your wheel to the LEFT" through the speaker. (Dad, you may not recall the yellow on brown paint, because Mark (old BF) used rubbing compound on it. LOL). Anyway, those big big vehicles don't hug the roads.

I once owned a Mustang -- and although it was one of those boxy ugly models, it was zippy and could take a curve quite nicely.

So...I'm a sports car.

At MSN online today, they show favorite sports cars:

Porsche 911 -- my personal favorite, and under 100K (which is still too much for me, but not out of this universe).

The Ferrari F430 -- which runs between $150K and $200K, thus putting it out of my universe. Isn't that yellow color fun?




The Astin Martin V12 Vanquish -- at about $250K. Aliens and Bill Gates drive this. Maybe it's my new personal favorite for when I win the Mega Millions.



Seriously, my dream car of all cars is probably a classic Thunderbird. They're way cool.

What would your pick be if you won the Mega Millions? What kind of car are you?

So Not Interesting . . .

I was tagged by the very interesting Nic to list five interesting things about myself.

I am SO not interesting, but here are five things about me:

1. Let's address the jail rumor first. Once I thought about it, there were actually two such events. But neither were very bad. Really.

a) When I was 12 or 13, and friend and I snuck out in the middle of the night -- thus breaking curfew -- to perpetrate the heinous crime of hanging out in 7-11. Yep. It was bad.
b) At 13, a group of friends and I threw eggs at cars on Halloween (I didn't know then that the eggs can damage the cars' paint). It was dark. Didn't know it was a police car. We were all hauled off to jail (my friend had an egg left and thought she should hide the evidence -- rolled it under the driver's seat of the police car).
My parents describe their shock in coming the police station to spring their poor good Catholic girl daughter, just to hear me yelling through the police station "I HAVE RIGHTS!"

2. Speaking of GCG -- I was a good Catholic girl (recovering now) and seriously carried a rosary around when I was a kid, blessing people. Yes, while at St. Michael's elementary, I considered becoming a nun.

3. I was a 70's hard rock chick. I've seen Rush, REO, Nazareth, Styx, Journey, Cheap Trick, and other bands in concert several times. I could play air drums along with Neil Pert. I won't discuss other things I had in common with 70's hard rockers.

4. I once played pool with the three San Diego Padre pitchers: Goose Gossage, Tim Stoddard, and Andy Hawkins. I beat Tim and Andy, but lost to Goose when I scratched on the 8 ball.

5. I wanted to be a teacher, but have the worst case of stage-fright you've ever seen. When in front of a crowd, I get physically ill. I tremble, sweat, and stutter. It started in 3rd grade when all I had to say at the Christmas play was "I'm a cherry on top" with my hands arched over my head. I laughed insanely rather than saying my line. You'll soon find me wearing a librarian hat instead of teaching.

I can't remember how many people I'm supposed to tag, so I'll just do one. Sorry, K. *muwhahaha*

Celebrating Gerard, er, Beowulf

This morning, I ordered the movie Beowulf and Grendel which is now available on dvd. Some of the reviews complained that the movie doesn't follow the epic tale closely enough, etc. I have read Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, and sure, I would like to see the hero's journey, the symbolism that combined pagan and Christian traditions, the, the, oh hell -- I just want to see Gerard Butler as Beowulf.
I LOVE HIM.


As the Phantom of the Opera, he completely seduced me over to the darkside.

I've also seen him in Timeline (one of the few highpoints of the movie), and I understand he was good in Dear Frankie. I still need to watch the Lara Croft movie he's in, as well as catch him as "Dracula" in a UK version of that movie.

LOVE GERARD...


Is there anyone for whom you'd spend $20 at Amazon?

I LIED

No pictures today. We couldn't find the digital camera. :( When I find it, I'll make my poor family dress up again because I want to blog those pictures!

Today will be an eclectic blog...

Happy Birthday, Chris! Today is my husband's birthday -- he's 29. *snort* I had a cool pirate birthday picture (which would've done double-duty since it looked just like my daughter's Halloween costume), but Blogger's acting up AGAIN and won't let me download it (which means I would've had trouble with the Halloween pics anyway). We'll have dinner and cake and open gifts tonight in celebration. :)

By the way, today is also Maria's birthday. Happy Birthday, Maria!

Writing...I have a load of books and one movie on the Crimean war / Charge of the Light Brigade. I'll probably wade through some of that this week before writing much more. I did finish my short story, Snow Angels, and will submit it today to a writing contest along with 50,000 other people.

Weather...18 degrees. COLD.

Well, I need to go nurse my sugar headache and investigate son who can't stop coughing.

Happy Wednesday!