Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person." - Dave Barry

Reading: still slogging through Douglas Mawson's The Home of the Blizzard

Listening to: John Cougar Mellencamp, Scarecrow

Decluttering accomplishments: did laundry, organized some crafts supplies

13 June 2002 - Oy Vey, Survey

I'm going to Montreal for the weekend, so I won't be updating until Monday night. Here's a survey to tide you over until then, courtesy of Shmuel.

1. If you could build your house anywhere, where would it be? The state of New Hampshire has 18 miles of sea coast. I only need a couple of hundred feet.

2. What's your favorite article of clothing? A hand painted long sleeve t-shirt I bought at a township crafts project in South Africa.

3. What's your favorite physical feature of the opposite sex? Can you count a voice? Hands would be the runner-up.

4. What's the last CD that you bought? Pete Seeger's Dangerous Songs, which was a replacement for a worn out tape. Also, the new Chenille Sisters CD (Room to Breathe). I suppose which was last depends on what order the clerk rang them up in.

5. Where's your favorite place to be? On the deck of a smallish ship (under 100 passengers) far out at sea. Or in the desert at night, under a star-filled sky.

6. Where's your least favorite place to be? On a third world bus.

7. What's your favorite place to be massaged? I'm not really big on being massaged, but there are times when a foot rub is nice.

8. HEY, what happened to #8? If you only put it away where it belongs, like I told you to, you wouldn't have to ask.

9. What time do you wake in the morning? I set the alarm for 5:17 a.m.. If I think I can sleep later, then I set it for 5:37 or 5:57. Yes, I know I am strange.

10. What's your favorite TV show? The only shows I really watched regularly this past season were Buffy and Smallville. My all-time favorite, though, is probably Northern Exposure. It's between that and Rocky and Bullwinkle.

11. What's your favorite kitchen appliance? I have a Brazilian vacuum type coffee maker that I rarely use but which continues to fascinate me. I have a thing for non-electric coffee makers, in general. While I most often use a simple melitta filter, I'm also remarkably proficient with an ibrik.

12. What's your favorite childhood memory? We used to go to various places that had lakes and I always loved rowing out to the middle of the lake, pulling in the oars, and reading a Nancy Drew mystery while the boat drifted. I also liked climbing inside my quilt cover and reading by flashlight after I was supposed to be in bed.

13. What makes you laugh? Damn near everything, but I am particularly fond of atrocious puns.

14. What makes you really angry? People who are late. People who are selfish over petty things, like making sure they're in line ahead of you or the like.

15. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? The uillean pipes. Or any other bellows-blown bagpipe.

16. Favorite restaurant / cafe / eatery? The 2nd Avenue Deli in New York. Zolo Grill in Boulder. Los Molinos in London. Tre Scalini in Rome.

17. Scariest moment of your life? Having to jump off a railing into a net when I was at summer camp. Aside from my being terrified of heights, the net was being held by my fellow campers - not something to inspire confidence. I suspect that people who went to normal summer camps never had to do things like this.

18. If a movie was made about you, what current / former Hollywood star would portray you? Going by looks, Roseanne Barr (but I'm taller). Going by personality, Katherine Hepburn.

19. Do you believe in afterlife? I don't see any way to know until it's too late, so I don't spend time worrying about it.

20. Favorite children's book? Alice in Wonderland is pretty much my guide to life. I read it at least twice a year.

21. What is your favorite season? Autumn. Preferably a cold, clear October day in New England. But it's pleasant even here in Los Angeles, where it's the birds that change color and fall from the trees.

22. What is your least favorite household chore? Vacuuming.

23. If you could have one super power, what would it be? The power to speak and understand any language instantly.

24. If you had a tattoo, what would it be? Permanent body modification is not for me, but I've had mehndi (henna tattoos) and I like geometric patterns.

25. Who was your first love, and at what age? My first real boyfriend was a guy named Harlan who I met at a Saturday science program for high school students that I went to at Columbia University. I was a sophomore, so about 15.

26. The song you wish you'd written? Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You."

27. What's in the trunk of your car? The spare tire and jack. An emergency kit with jumper cables and that stuff you squirt into a flat tire for a quick fix and a space blanket. Anywhere from one to six bottles of mineral water. Windex and paper towels. Some posters I put there when I moved offices a couple of years ago and which I may someday decide what to do with. My briefcase. Some plastic magazine holders that I need to bring by Lauren's house.

28. What is your favorite day? The vernal equinox, mostly because I like saying that phrase.

29. Describe yourself using only one word. Eclectic.