kellementology

life according to me

Tag: Memes

  • Yawn…I think she’s alive. Maybe.

    So do you think it’s a problem that yesterday, I FINALLY wrote after so many days, and then when I logged in today to write again WOOT, I’d discovered the post I wrote yesterday…um…not there.  Or here.  I guess I’d inadvertently marked it “private.”  So sorry ’bout that.  Now, here it is.  And only a day late.  Sheesh.

    Okay. I’ve sulked long enough. I’ve dragged myself out from under the bush I crawled under to get over myself. Actually, I’m just transitioning between Fall and Winter. Getting ready. I’m not sure what for, but it seems to be something I do. Sounds scientific, doesn’t it?

    And since I have serious ground to cover, I’ll start by warning you that I’m loaded with tagging. Pay backs are hell, aren’t they?

    About two decades ago, Sam of Temporarily Me (who is slogging through NaBloPoMo like a trooper and is almost there!) smacked me upside the head with something about Crazy 8’s. If you don’t know Sam, you should. She’s completely hilarious and says what my brain is thinking with respect to calling things like she sees them. Plus, she designs her own site and I swear changes the design like someone changes underwear. It’s the best comparison I could come up with, OKAY? Her designs are excellent and when I actually get around to acting serious about design, after I grow up, I want to be just like her. The woman has talent. Be nice to her when you visit. She’s preggers and is a tad cranky right now. Teasing, Sam! Teasing. Don’t hit me, ‘kay?

    This oughta take about three years to finish. And I have a sale to run to right in the middle of it just to make sure it takes all day. (Erm…just got back from the sale. The line was down the block, so no.) Moving right along with this Tag-a-Scrum-Dilly-Icious post.

    Here are my Crazy 8’s:

    8 things I’m passionate about:

    1. Solitude. You know. Places with no people in them. Lots of complete silence. I know. People in hell want ice water. Feh.
    2. Days with no plans. Lots of them. Like forever.
    3. Cooking, food, eating, grocery shopping, looking at cooking magazines, cooking blogs, restaurants, reality food shows, does that cover it?
    4. Writing, words, letters, typography, books
    5. How much I completely detest jerks in general and people who drive like their face. (Have you ever really wondered what that means?) And….ahem.
    6. My Mac and if you touch it you’re toast. Don’t —
    7. Being passionate about being passionately passionate about passion
    8. My guys (this is here for those of you who have already clucked about my not putting it in the numero uno spot and gimmeabreakalready).

    8 things I say often:

    1. Sonofab*tch
    2. Shee*t
    3. Jeez Louize
    4. It’s hi-LAR-ious.
    5. “Go poopoo over there.” (said to Doggo who will drop her load the SECOND she gets out the door because she thinks she’ll get left outdoors even if she never does and it drives me crazy.) Honestly, I only say it twice a day. But it adds up, yanno?
    6. Did you have a good day how much homework do you have?
    7. I need that (insert item here).
    8. I want this (insert item here).

    8 books I’ve read recently:

    8 things I want to do before I die:

      1. Own my own little shop. A cute one that sells lovely things that everyone can’t live without or find anywhere else. With a little fence and flower boxes. And a bell.
      2. Figure out how the clothes in my closet that don’t fit multiply in the night even though I keep giving them to the Good Will.
    1. Make a real Beef Wellington. You know. The whole enchilada. I’ve made the individual ones a couple of times. But without the cool music in the background.
    2. Renovate an old house part by part.
    3. Write something that people will actually purchase. A book would be good.
    4. Spend an extended time traveling — mostly in Europe.
    5. Enjoy exercising. Okay, so maybe pretend like I’ll enjoy it. Sort of.
    6. Develop a REAL sense of patience instead of just acting like I already have it oozing out of my pores.

    8 songs I can listen to over and over again, and probably have:

    1. Beatles: Help
    2. Carly Simon: You’re So Vain
    3. Heart: Alone
    4. Roy Orbison: I Drove All Night
    5. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Snow (Hey Oh)
    6. Simon and Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence
    7. Harry Nilsson: Without You
    8. John Lennon: Imagine

    8 things that attract me to my friends:

    1. Irreverence
    2. Common interests (food, wine, snarking, travel, books, gardening, wine…)
    3. Food
    4. Wine
    5. Snarking (this is NOT the same as number one, so put a cork in it, babe.)
    6. More wine
    7. Laughter. With snorting involved. It’s a gift.
    8. Waxing of possibilities and never doing anything about them.

    8 things I learned in the last year:

    1. You really can just walk away from a career. Period. Okay, so maybe not with bows on or anything. But you can run as fast as you can and keep watch over your shoulder that it’s not chasing you or hiding under your bed at night. Or in the closet.
    2. It takes quite a bit of time to blow the dust off of everything you once loved and gave up for a job. About a year. And then some. And even then, some of it is so lost, reminding you that it could be true what they say about opportunity only knocking once. Pessimistic, but lamentably true.
    3. There will never be enough hours in a day to blog and then actually do all of the other things I’d like to do. Okay, I know some of you manage, but I’m not. Make that choose not to.
    4. You never will do all the things you say you will do if only you didn’t have to go to work. Because you develop new interests. And then you wish you could do all the things you said you’d always do if only…
    5. There are some aspects of not having all my female equipment that are actually enjoyable. Okay. One. Maybe two. But I wouldn’t want it back. I was done with it anyway.
    6. Your 15-year-old won’t develop a neurosis from his mother relentless food photoshoots.
    7. For some of us, there’s no such thing as a Little Black Dress.
    8. There really are things to talk about in the evening that aren’t related to work. They’re not scintillating or anything. But still. It’s nice.

    Now, who’s up next:

    1. Chick (who’s going out of town, so I can spring this on her unsuspecting self)
    2. Meleah (who’s probably already been smacked with this one and 10 others)
    3. Cooper (who less than loves these things but actually did one not too long ago, so…)
    4. Robert (who will most certainly put a redneck spin on this)
    5. Olga (who can do this in her sleep, but really because I want to see if she can connect all of it to the “girls.”
    6. mel (whom I’ve harrassed with this stuff since the beginning and she’s smart enough to ignore me)
    7. beth (a used to be Paradise resident whom I hope will forgive me because I haven’t known her all that long)
    8. if you’re not on this list and are brain dead, by all means, sign yourself up. This one’s not too horribly painful. And besides, you won’t be able to tell if you’re brain dead.

    Okay, so now, here’s round two (and I know there are some others, but this will have to suffice for today, because…well…I’ll think of a reason. Surely there is one.

    Robert of Observations from the Back 40 honored me with an award: Roar Award A Roar for Powerful Words many days ago before I had my shopping meltdown and I’m just now getting around to saying THANKS for the recognition. I appreciate it!

  • My Soundtrack of What Matters. And Yours?

    Oh look everyone.  Another Saturday.  I continue to be amazed that the days on the calendar just whip by with such complete disregard for the fact that I’m on the back side of a half century and it’d be nice if things could slow down a bit.  Not permanently, of course.  But long enough to allow for the extended time I require to think about things that really don’t matter in the grander scheme of the universe and the survival of the species.  I don’t know which particular species, but still.

    But there are some things that matter so much, I can’t imagine what I’d do without them.  The loss so many have experienced this past week in San Diego in the wildfires has prompted me to wonder about choosing if I had to.  But my choices aren’t necessitated by a fire.  They’re the result of simply taking stock, and acknowledging what keeps me anchored.  Understood is that family and friends are not something to be considered here.  Period.

    Solitude.  I can be around many, many people.  But I prefer not to.  I love the busy roar of a large city, but not as much as a winding road and low grass covered hills.  And music?  It can bring me to tears, cause me to dance, or force me to sing along whether there are words or not.  But even music can’t compete with my need for solitude.  The quiet I enjoy for part of every day when the only sound I can hear is the rustle of trees outside my window, or the creak of wood somewhere in the house matters.  Plain, simple quiet.

    My stove.  I could say cooking, but not being one of those Top Chef type people, I wouldn’t want to have to cook on a hot plate, or a sterno flame.  No.  I’d need my stove.  The one with the nine cheery red knobs.  I’ve heard people say they love their cars — the purr of the engine, the handling, the acceleration.  That’s how I feel about my stove.  Ah…the sound it makes when those convection fans switch on.  Vroom…vroom….It isn’t in my kitchen because its design is sleek, although it is.  Or because its technology is a wonder.  But it is pretty amazing. It’s in my kitchen because I use it.  Seriously use it and have fun the entire time.  It connects me to food and family and friends.  Creativity and learning.  Tradition and new cuisine.  It provides the peace of mind that diligently proceeding through a set of steps can provide, and at the end of them all, have my taste buds sing.  Could I have all of this without my particular stove?  Certainly.  But it just wouldn’t be the same.  It weighs a bit more than my Mac at about 1,000 lbs. so it isn’t exactly something I can ever take with me if I go.  But I’d find a way to get another.  Trust me.

    My Mac.  It has one little plug that connects it to my house.  One.  But it connects me to so much more than I can possibly be connected to otherwise.  Ironically, I’m writing this on the MoH’s laptop, and it’s fine, but it’s not my Mac.  I could make due with a different computer if I didn’t have a Mac.  I can buy just about anything I want, read (which would be another thing I wouldn’t do without because it’s like breathing), travel, learn, listen, create…But it wouldn’t be the same.  Iwouldn’t have my lovely screen, or sleek white lines, or easily swiveleing-thingy-ness.  I wouldn’t be able to waste copious amounts of time with iPhoto, or click open my Finder services for the Oxford dictionary (the Webster widget doesn’t come close…).  And photobooth, and iChat (which I’ve just learned to use).  Pathetic, isn’t it?  Don’t even argue with me about this.  I’m a goner.  And iTunes?  Well.

    Rod wants to know what’s on my playlist.  I don’t have an iPod (solitude, remember?) but I do happen to have three whole playlists on in my iTunes library which are organized very specifically.  And when I check the list of songs I’ve played most, the following come up.  They’re supposed to say much about who and what I am, or what I’ve been thinking.  But I’ve developed an odd habit at this point in my life.  I don’t listen to the words of songs.  I listen for the melody.  I listen to whether it’s written in a major or minor key, whether it’s sung by an uncomplicated voice and a single instrument, or an energetic voice and a band.  And it’s all connected to mood.  I listen when I have to write.  When I have to sit at the computer and am easily distracted.  I play it loudly, singing along — whether there are words or not.  So I’m not sure what these particular songs say about me.  I’ll have to think about it.  But I’ll have to figure out what the words are first.

    She Is     The Fray     (40)

    Snow     Red Hot Chili Peppers (37)

    Betty     Kate Walsh  (26)

    Savin’ Me     Nickelback (25)

    If it Makes You Happy  Sheryl Crow  (25)

    In Need  Sheryl Crow  (24)

    What About Now  Daughtry  (23)

    When the Lights go Down  Faith Hill  (23)

    Photograph  Nickelback  (23)

    Over You  Daughtry  (22)

    Squeeze Me  Diana Krall  (22)

    You’re Still Here  Faith Hill  (22)

    Slow Like Honey  Fiona Apple  (22)

    Tonight  Kate Walsh  (22)

    Nearness of You  Norah Jones  (22)

    This post was sponsored by Robert of Miscellaneous Ramblings who inquired about “Three Things I Wouldn’t Let Go,” and Rod of Inside Rod’s Head who insisted that “Our Players Don’t Lie.”  The links provide the directions which are blissfully uncomplicated.  Yes!  There is a meme god in the sky.

    What do you think chick, vanessa, paisley, meleah, mel, jenny, phil, rj, scott, and micki (whom I know has a “meme-free” zone, but am asking the question anyway)?  It’s an interesting exercise combining the two…I’ll have to do some analysis on it after I figure out the words of the songs I’ve listed.

    Have a splendiferous weekend.

  • Dry & Vacuous

    I finally gave in. I turned on the AC. The MoH and the RT are out and about, so I’m blissfully content and for the first time in days, sans sweat running down my spine, drenching my shorts and giving the appearance I’ve sprouted a leak. I’m in heaven. Truly. I had almost forgotten what dry air feels like, so moist and sticky that it’s been here lately.

    To celebrate the completely vacuous mood I’m in, I’m going to indulge in a bit of nothingness. I could rant about the recent ruling by a judge here in California that will severely limit water to SoCal to save smelt. Or about how much hair our family pets are shedding on everything no matter how much I vacuum. Or whine about gearing up to tackle the RT’s bedroom, but I could work up a sweat and that would destroy the peaceful, dimly lit calm I’m basking in.

    Instead, I’ll comply with an obligation to a fellow blogger. An obligation to release some facts about who else? Me. Intriguing? Not necessarily. But pleasant for me to be able to remember, smile about, then write. Nothing to work up a sweat up about. So thanks to Caught in the Stream for the downtime today…much appreciated. Oh, it’s called the Fab 4, but that’s a matter for you to decide upon.

    4 Jobs I’ve Held: Babysitter — I worked an entire summer watching my three cousins from 8-5 while my aunt worked. I earned $200 and thought I was rich. I was 15 years old…Grocery store frozen food clerk — I worked 4am-1 and ordered, stocked, and inventoried the freezer cases. I’d wake at 3am, pull my two small boys out of bed at 3:30, drive to my mother’s and put them in a double bed in her spare room, then get to work by 4:00. I can tell you that when you get in a warm car after working in a freezer, the fat on your rear end and thighs really itches as it thaws out. Could be handy information…Substitute teacher for five school districts– I did this for about two terrifying months until I was hired by one district and then given a contract. I truly detested not knowing when I went to bed at night where I’d be working, which grade level I’d be teaching, and worse, whether the teacher had left lesson plans or not. I intensely disliked the anticipation of that phone ringing at 5am as well. I had my best day subbing in a place I thought would be the worst, and the worst day in a place that should have been great. Yes, as much as I learned to love them most in later years, middle school kids are not very nice to substitute teachers. Ever. In fact, they’re every bit as ugly as you think they are. Well, except for that time those 3rd graders kept pulling the fire alarm. School Principal — Interesting, but not a fun job. And much more difficult than I believe people know. In my next life, I will not choose this job again. And I won’t explain why because I’d begin to sweat — defeating the purpose of taking the bait on this meme…

    4 Films I Could Watch Over and Over (and already have): The Return of the King (my favorite in the Lord of the Rings trilogy…), The Grapes of Wrath (I love the story, the sets, the history, and Henry Fonda — goodness, but he was quite the intense hunk), Pride and Prejudice (the new one — not the old one, but I’d watch that one, too…).  Why?  Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy…and Notting Hill. I love the scrawny blonde male actor in this movie as well as several of the others I haven’t seen in other movies. Each time I watch it, I laugh.  This list could easily be 100 movies long. I love movies and some day will try and figure out just how many I’ve seen over the years instead of cleaning my house.

    4 Television Shows I Watch: Right now, ZERO. Well, that isn’t quite true. I do believe there are a few more episodes of Top Chef left, aren’t there? And I watch DVRd What Not to Wear, but I’ve seen all of them, so am out of those as well. I eyeball MSNBC financial something or other in the morning while reading the paper after the MoH turns it on, but I wouldn’t turn it on myself. And I loved, loved, loved So You Think You Can Dance this summer and last, wishing I might have learned to dance, knowing that it would’ve been a very difficult path to take in life. But, oh to be able to move my body that way. Amazing. Over all, I’m less than enthused about television. I hear there are good shows out there, but never seem to get around to watching them. The commercials drive me nuts.

    4 Places I’ve Lived: Key West, Florida, when I was in the first grade. I remember the heat, the clear water, my teacher, Mrs. Lindsay who beat me with a ping pong paddle, and giant oleander bushes. And those crabs in the ocean, too. Charleston, South Carolina, when I was in the second grade. I remember an easy walk to school, an enormous train yard, a dense forest beyond that, and a hurricane whose name I can’t remember. I also remember the white fence across the street from our house that had written on it: “F**k a rubber Duck,” and I wondered what that meant. Funny how your brain hangs on to stupid things like that…Rota, Spain, where I lived for four years and love to explore on Google Earth now to see how much it’s changed. Those were the very best years of my childhood — no contest. If I could go back in time to relive any part of my life, it would be this with absolutely no regret. San Diego, California, in about eleven different homes and communities over the years. It’s a pleasant place to live for many reasons — most of which I complain about frequently. It’s all in good fun, but variety would be lovely weather-wise. Add it all up and it’s a lifetime full of sun, sun, and more sun. It’s no wonder I’m a bit tired of it all.

    4 Favorite Foods: So this is like the movie list. I could name 100. To be very simple…Pizza — I love, love, love it. Making it, ordering it, eating it. The only thing I don’t like about it is thinking about how anyone could put pineapple on it. YUCK. But proscuitto, parmesan, arugula and green apple is to die for. Steak — Perfectly seared and seasoned. Delicious. What else needs to be said? Cinnabon — No, not cinnamon rolls. Cinnabon. They’re just different, somehow. Especially that gooey part right in the middle when they’re fresh out of the oven. Goodness, they’re amazing. Salad — in every combination possible. Just get me a trough and I’ll jump in, grazing my way through it. But not slathered with bottled dressing. BLECH. Just light vinaigrettes — mostly made with citrus and olive oil. Delicious.

    4 Websites I Visit Every Day: Hell, I don’t even visit my own every day now. But with the greatest frequency, not counting my own, La Mia Cucina, Wandering the Ether, Freak Parade, Thought Sparks, and Wonderland or Not. Oops! That was five. But there’s at least ten more I’ll check in on when I’m on line. Routinely.

    4 Places I would Love to be Right Now: Floating on my back in the ocean while looking up at the clouds instead of swimming hard to the marker, turning around and huffing and puffing back to shore. It’s one of those “stopping to smell the flowers” aspects of life to take note of. On my way to France, then Italy, then England for a month-long decadent vacation. In the middle of a winter rain storm and sitting with a cup of tea, watching the palm trees lash around, listening to the rain drum against the skylights, and feel the wind blow up against me as I leave the house to get the mail. But I’ll settle for Reading a good book downstairs which is next on my agenda because I’ve finally finished another on my list.

    4 Favorite Colors: cobalt, indigo, aquamarine, and turquoise. You know. Blue. The sad thing is, I don’t have much of it in my house, or in my closet. I wonder what that’s all about? I must be attracted to it because I’m full of piss and vinegar, fire and brimstone and need a bit of cooling off.

    4 Names that I Love but Would/Could not use for My Children: Okay, so now this is lapsing into one of those junior high memes. Who thinks of this stuff? Huh? So how about Chloe, Zoe, Phoebe. I have three boys, so it would have been rude to have named any of them Chloe, Zoe, or Phoebe. Right? But what about Fabio? Oh, wait, that’s cheating. Or Atticus? Octavius? Okay. Popeye? Bwah-hahahahahahaha!

    So, done. And no, I don’t know whom to tag. It seems like everyone’s done this one and I’ve been safe up until now. So if you’re completely brain dead and don’t have anything to write about, tag yourself and give it a go. It’s not too bad.

    Maybe I should come up with my own meme…one that has a nice bite to it…

  • It’s…like…Totally Random — or is it?

    Is anything really random? Does the interconnectedness of life preclude that anything is accidental or coincidental? Can one person who has an obsessive tendency to make sure lights not in use are turned off really save the planet? Ray Bradbury, scifi writer extraordinaire, once suggested that it is possible. In “A Sound of Thunder,” a man travels back through time to the age of dinosaurs. Although he is cautioned about remaining on the path during his visit, he doesn’t. And the dead butterfly later noticed on the sole of his shoe causes repercussions in his modern day world.

    And what about chaos? Webster’s defines it as “complete disorder and confusion.” But it adds a second definition specifically linked to physics: “behavior so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions.” Appear random. Small changes in conditions…wikipedia image

    When first experimenting with the concept of chaos, Edward Lorenz discovered that minute variations can cause huge differences in data analysis. The subsequently coined Butterfly Effect is explained here:

    The flapping of a single butterfly’s wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month’s time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn’t happen. Or maybe one that wasn’t going to happen, does. (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)

    This is quite an involved way to lead into the fact that I’ve been tagged by the ever gracious techie, Phil at Thought Sparks to disclose eight random facts about myself. This one has clearly been around the block and back a bejillion times.  The rules are (and you do know how I abhor rules, right?):

    • Players start with 8 random facts about themselves
    • Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts
    • Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.

    Got it? I’ll do what I can to make it relevant, even though it’s random, and things are really never random… Phyllotaxy Are they?

    1. My former student, Mary, is a member of the Peace Corps, living in Honduras, and working on educational projects there. She still emails me! Mary was one of my top 8th grader writers in 1993, and a violinist with the San Diego Youth Symphony who went on to study music at UC Irvine. Now she shares her music with kids. She has a call out for pen pals to act as mentors for 12-13 year olds in Tegucigalpa, the city where she works.
    2. Between 12-15 magazines show up at our house monthly. We can’t figure out why 4 of them show up, because we’ve never paid for them, and never ordered them. They just come. I love magazines and always thought that if I didn’t work, I’d have time to read them. Now, we’re getting rid of the subscriptions (most of them) because I don’t read them. Think of all those trees I’ll help save.
    3. I was forced into Catholicism by a physically abusive step-father who ironically neglected to reference those commandments he must have had to memorize at one point in his childhood. Funny how that works, isn’t it? The Dynamics of Science and Religion
    4. I have been known to frankly share my thoughts on religion with those bold enough to knock on my door, or walk up my driveway selling theirs. My “church” is filled with plants, animals, the ocean, the mountains, sunsets, and rainstorms. I don’t need a box, an organ, or a certain day of the week to be thankful for all I have and consider what others need.
    5. The concept of reincarnation fascinates me. At times in my past, the idea of becoming a rock seemed much less stressful, and far less painful. Didn’t Simon and Garfunkel write a song about that?
    6. I absolutely believe that if art and music were as important in school as reading and math, our country would be a far less violent place.
    7. The most heavenly combination of flavors that I could eat every single day is tomatoes, basil, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil. And the aroma…
    8. Although it would be interesting to visit aspects of my childhood and early adult life again, I have never feared getting older. I relish looking forward to whatever comes my way, knowing that what I do right now, is completely connected to that eventuality.

    So what can you do to leave your imprint on what comes next? To what extent are the sum of your parts woven into the future’s code? We’re waiting to hear about your 8 random facts.

    .…..why paisley????

    Twisted sister…..totally pissed off!

    Wonderland or Not

    the domestic minx

    Melting Wok

    One Old Green Bus

    Electric Writer

    Eat Drink Live

    I actually took the time to see whether any of you had been recently tagged by someone else…but I may have overlooked. Cheers!