Are your parents married or divorced?:
Lead in with one of them being croaked off already… good way to start a survey.
Are you a vegetarian?:
I eat a big salad every day full of all kinds of funky goodies, like artichokes and radishes and cauliflower and olives and green onions, and then I top it off with cajun turkey and parmesan cheese. ~*~awesome~*~ (you have to sing that in a really high voice)
Do you believe in Heaven?:
I’m really hoping it’s way better than people generally imagine it, because I would be bored to tears. I’ve had a few dreams where I’m looking for people, I presume we’ve all died, and I eventually find them. One dream I had after my granddad died, and he wanted to let me know something, ok, wait, I’ll just tell you the whole thing.
Preface this with the knowledge that back then I survived several years of fairly severe SVT attacks, and that my grandfather had died after years of heart disease and several heart surgeries. So in the dream I found myself in a big lobby in what I couldn’t tell might be a giant hotel or bank or something. Everything was *pristine*. I was by myself and didn’t know any of the people walking by talking to each other. I saw a row of phones and thought I’d call my mom. There was no coin slot, so I started dialing. I couldn’t get a number dialed out to save my life (never can do numbers in my dreams) and finally just hung up. Turned around just in time to see my grandfather whisk by like he didn’t see me. I tried to follow him and kept losing him, wound up in a super nice beautiful salon that wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. Roomy, bright, open, kids playing quietly, happy people getting hair and nails done, no loud noise (my grandmother was always in a dress and jewelry, even when she lay on a couch with cancer, so this didn’t surprise me). I looked at one of the hair drying chairs, and without warning, my grandfather popped his face out from behind a newspaper and poked his tongue out at me, giggled like a maniac, and took off like a leprechaun, and the chase was on again. I’d never seen him like this, like the world was a really fun place to be. We wound up running back out the lobby and down a few steps, and I’ve gotta say, the street was immaculate. No cars, no dust or dirt, the sidewalks were beautiful, everything was just stunningly beautiful. And there was my grandfather, laying on one of the steps with his eyes closed, and a lily in his clasped hands. I knelt down, very concerned (didn’t even realize in my dream he’d already died), and he suddenly snapped his eyes open and winked at me and said in my ear “It’s not going to kill you!” Then grinned real big and took off dancing like a leprechaun down the street. And I woke up and knew he meant my tachycardia. I had surgery later on and have been fine since.
If you’d known my grandfather, this dream would knock you over. During his life I knew him as an impatient kind of sour man, with a short temper, and he liked to spank little kids. He even chased my brother once with the intention of spanking him and got super ticked that he never could catch him. But he also liked board games, and I have memories of many holiday games with him humming church hymns and saying “Pitiful, pitiful” as he beat us every time. I found out years later he suffered from migraines and depression, and I’m sure it didn’t help being a tax agent. When I had that dream, I think every bit of it came from him and his impression of what a wonderful world would be like. Other dreams I’ve had of any afterlife were never inside a city like that, although that one was pretty cool. I usually wind up where the food is, so it’s not a reach that one of my ‘heaven’ dreams was about feeling really content after I’d searched and searched for my sister and finally found her turning food on a grill outside on a big lawn with a lot of other people hanging around, like a summer get together.
Whatever Heaven really is, I’m pretty sure it’ll be a lot more interesting than my life now.
Have you ever come close to dying?:
Actually, several times. I could make a list, but I’ve already given you a nice, long story.
What jewelry do you wear 24/7?:
My glasses. Nothing else. I used to have over 100 pairs of earrings, and they were so cool. I have given them all away. This is true. I had been very sick for a number of years and various kindhearted people asked if I’d tried praying for healing. I’m not the sort to be that vain, figured we’re here to learn and deal with what we’re given. But I did finally reach a point where it looked like I’d never get better, and I’d gotten so bad I was practically immobile and had such terrible brain fog that I could barely shop for food. So I thought about it. If I pray for healing, it can’t be for selfish reasons. How many people pray for healing and keep smoking or drinking or binging on junk food or whatever, right? So after I thought real good, I did pray for healing, so that I could be good for other people, instead of a drag. Everything in my body exploded, wound up in the ER 4 times, long story short, lotta meds got dropped, new discoveries were made, I completely uprooted and revamped my diet out of desperation (couldn’t take the diabetes meds), and next thing you know, I’m shedding pounds and my brain comes back on and my entire world went from black to less and less gray. And of course, you think, Oh, all I had to do was change my diet, so who knows if it was really the praying for healing, right? And then my earring holes closed up… When I was young and first pierced my ears, my dad got upset. He said I should never desecrate my body. Oh, well, so I liked earrings. And for 25 years I never had a problem with those holes closing up. Until I prayed for healing. They closed *right up*. And I’m not going to push it. I gave away all my earrings.
Oh, yeah, other jewelry. Bracelets make my arms itch, rings bother me too much, and necklaces pull my hair. And I found out when I got staples in my knee I have allergic reactions to titanium. So as much as I like jewelry and think it’s really cool, I never wear it any more.
Are you eating?:
I’m ~always~ eating. At least it seems like it. But I’m a nibbler, usually less than 200 calories at a time, and I do that all day long. That’s the coolest way to cut calories, seriously feel like I eat all day long.
Do you eat the stems of broccoli:
I’ve seen rabbits turn away from that stuff, don’t know why some humans think pure cellulose makes a nutritious filler.
Do you wear makeup?:
I tried for years. Finally accepted I’m just too allergic to everything. But I have a nice tradeoff. No one believes I’m about to turn 50. Sweeeeet. I don’t have wrinkles yet, thanx to a super sun allergy. I stay indoors.
Would you ever have plastic surgery?:
I bet burn and other accident victims really hate the shallow thinking behind questions like this.
What do you wear to bed?:
I cover up and wear sox because I really get sick of being walked on. So a stupid spider scuttles across my *face*, and I come awake like a cat being shocked.
Have you ever done anything illegal?:
Like I’m going to confess on a public blog. What worries me is how many people I’ve met in my life who have done things way more illegal than me and they think it’s funny. Good on them, go over there and leave me alone because I don’t trust you around my pockets…
Can you roll your tongue?:
Amazing how you can get a roomful of strangers to suddenly participate in finding these things out.
Do You have a boyfriend or girlfriend?:
Scott is the kind of guy who would die before he’d wear a powder blue t-shirt, so he’s a MANLY manfriend.
Do you believe in Abortions?:
I believe far too many women are used as convenient objects, and that this is far too easy a fix for a variety of abuses, ignorance, and not wanting to take responsibility. Before you throw a rock, I’ve had an abortion. I have very deep feelings over the waste in our society because our emotions, lifestyles, and beliefs are so easily manufactured and commercialized to the masses. Plus the pressure is incredible if you come from family that chooses judgement over kindness. Point blank, he had a career to protect and a mother who would slice his world into ribbons. Now that I’m as old as I am, I see that as no excuse. I really wish I’d told someone and gotten some emotional support before it came to that. I was so terribly naive, I really thought I was doing the noble thing for him. Now I see he was a coward, and there was no love lost when he abruptly fled afterward. Wouldn’t mind getting an apology sometime in my life. Or at the very least that picture of me in the Planet of the Apes Halloween mask I’ve asked for. He probably threw it away.
What is your Hair color?:
By the time my mom was my age (49 3/4) her hair was all gray. The only white I have at all is a few strands on one temple, and you only see them when they catch the light. I’ll probably be one of those people who suddenly goes white headed overnight.
Future child’s name, boy and girl?:
I’ve been toying with a list of names in case I get another flock of chickens going in the next couple of years, but by the time I get them I’ll probably pick different names.
Do you smoke?:
Found out on x-rays that my lungs have been scarred for years, and I asked a pulmonologist about it since I had smoked very heavily for about a year in my younger days, and he said that particular scaring is fungal infection from the local soils, you see it a lot in this area. Other areas have different kinds of fungus in their soils and scar differently in the lungs. Wow. Ok, stop… They obsess about people smoking, they freak about people sunburning, but no one EVER says Hey, be careful running around outside and gardening and doing construction, you might get a fungal infection that’ll scar your lungs up…
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?:
I would love to go to one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants, maybe the one in Vegas.
Do you sleep with stuffed animals?:
Can’t tell you how many times I wake up and a spider or some other bug is snuggling with me. In this whole big house, all the places they could sit around, they spot the heated body glowing in the dark and make a beeline.
If you won the lottery, what would you do first?:
Scott says we’ll dole out a little obligatory money to family members and then disappear. I think the first thing I’d do is hire full time staff to cater to my every whim.
Gold or Silver?:
Gold detailing is cool, but I’m not ostentatious enough to draw that much attention. I know people who drip with gold all over their bodies, and I think they’re just silly. I think it’s more sophisticated to go Navajo and do the big silver stuff.
Hamburger or hot dog?:
Kraut dog, minus the bun.
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?:
Guacamole. Hey, you didn’t say one food item or that I couldn’t mix it up first.
City, beach or country?:
Blue Bird Wanderlodge Motor Coach. Blue Bird Wanderlodge and Motor Coach Brokering Service I’ve always thought it would be cool to live on the road.
What was the last thing you touched?:
I got stuff out of the freezer to thaw. Ye know not what.
Where did you eat last?:
Wouldn’t you rather know that I had deviled eggs for breakfast? And they were goooooood.
When’s the last time you cried?:
Lately a few tears roll about the same time every afternoon. I think my body is still doing some renovating after all the weight loss and is dumping toxic waste.
Do you read blogs?:
Read this one just a few minutes ago. STS-135… Rain Keep in mind that I don’t post surveys in real time, they can take several days (or even longer) to finish. I actually read that blog within minutes of it being posted because I’m a space junkie nerd, have had the NASA channel on since 3 a.m. watching them get ready to launch.
Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?:
I remember when the only selection in jeans were men’s jeans, and they weren’t even called men’s jeans because no one thought to gender them when they first came out. When women’s jeans came out I hated them because I couldn’t find any to fit me right (and I actually had a good figure), so I just stuck to men’s jeans for years.
Ever been involved with the police?:
A policeman drove me home after he pulled me over, because I’d taken medication that made me super sleepy. I thought that was pretty cool of him.
What’s your favorite shampoo/conditioner and soap?:
Scott uses a handful of shampoo for 1/2 inch long hair. Even when my hair was 3 feet long I didn’t use that much.
Do you talk in your sleep?:
I sometimes wake myself up trying to, but I never know what I was wanting to say.
Ocean or pool?:
Lake would be nice. We have a few around here.
What’s your favorite song at the moment:
Have you ever had a cavity?
Nearly every tooth in my head. And it didn’t have anything to do with eating sweets or not having fluoride or not flossing. Had everything to do with stress, medications, and a nervous system disorder.
Window seat or aisle seats?:
If you can drug me and drag me on board, I think I might enjoy a window seat. I’m not into a lot of talking.
Ever met anyone famous?:
They’ve met me.
Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?:
I’ve managed to stay incognito. If I ever disappear, you’ll know I failed.
Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?:
I avoid spaghetti.
What is your favorite sport to play?:
Scott won’t let me have a nerf gun to take to family functions.
Basketball or football?:
Basketball is like baseball squeezed into a tiny space and on high speed. I have no respect for either one. Football is a party sport, I dig it.
When was the last time you went to the bathroom?:
It is NOT cool to feel someone crawl right down your hip to jump off and you can’t do anything about it. This morning it was a giant ant with wings. I found it later in the kitchen. Bet it rode in last night on Scott from mowing the grass.
Do you drive a stick?:
Wound up getting cortisone shots in my knee after stick shifting a little Nissan pickup for a couple years.
Are you self-conscious?:
I had no clue what that even was till I read about it. And then it took a few years for me to figure out. Conscious of my *self*… I never was one of those people who has to look in a mirror.
Have you ever given money to a bum?:
Sux when you give $100 to a family member who swears they’ll come over and help you do chores and they never show up.
Have you been in love?:
I’m nearly over my Radek Zelenka phase (surprisingly lasted about a year) and moving back into guacamole and crab cakes. Being in love is very complicated for me.
Where do you wish you were?:
In the parallel dimension where I own a summer home up north and I have servants bringing me my mail and good things to eat.
Who is the 1st person your top 8?:
Do people really still myspace? I don’t know what’s wrong with mine, but my blog over there is so mangled I can’t get it to link, it’s like it doesn’t exist or something. Really sick of Tom jacking things around. Xanga needs a legendary figure that everyone can dump on like that.
Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?:
Gah, don’t even get me started. Can’t tell you how I loathe being transported during my most stressful moments. You lay so that you are traveling backwards, every stop and turn puts a G force on your whole body (THAT sux when your blood pressure is popping), you get super disoriented because you can’t tell what direction you’re going, and about the time you think you’re going to be carsick for a week they finally pull in and unload in the freezing cold or whatever, and by the time you get to a room you just wanna crawl home and die in a quiet corner. And then you get the bill.
Can you tango?:
Sauce winds up *everywhere*. If you don’t want to wipe it up, don’t tango with me.
Last gift you received?:
Scott pulled up a big load of fresh garlic for me a few days ago, bless his heart.
What occasion did you receive your gift?:
I whined incessantly for days that I was out of garlic and that I’d go pick it myself if he didn’t. He doesn’t like me controlling his garlic bed.
Last thing you spent lots of money on?:
I spend very little money on stuff. I got the full 10 season Stargate SG-1 collection for $80, brand new. Scott tried to tell me Netflix would be cheaper, but after you count out the viewing hours and time you have per month and add the months up, comes up to the same price. And if I own them, I can watch them again for free. How about that. Someday I’ll be laying in a nursing home watching Stargate and all the residents will think I’m cool.
Where do you live?:
In a bubble floating on pure chaos.
Last wedding attended?:
I have never witnessed a more hilarious disintegration of in-law relations that is about to crescendo than over the upcoming wedding of my step kid. I’m just staying out of everything and hoping I never feel conflicted over the supernova that will pinnacle everything I’ve ever suffered in this marriage for the good of the child. The piranhas are eating their own, and after all the backstabbing from all sides that I’ve learned to duck and cover from, it’s a pleasure watching it all backfire now onto the princess who thought she was immune. And I’m not a mean person, I just think it’s about time the indignant father got a real inkling what his wife went through all these years. Perspective makes all the difference.
Favorite restaurant?:
I am loathe to choose only one fave.
What is your favorite kind of car?:
New. I never had a new car in my life until last summer. Sweeeet.
Most hated food(s):
Must I think about them? I don’t care to waste the time dredging up this kind of negativity.
Most loved food(s)?:
The kind that mix well together, like avocados, lemon, spring onions, and garlic. Super combo.
Can you sing?:
In my younger days I could do a pretty fair imitation of Weird Al.
Person on your mind?:
Not a soul. I’m sorta staring off at a candle I lit awhile ago, very soothing.
What’s your least favorite chore(s):
Back with that negativity thing again, but I’ll go with cleaning up after a spoiled arrogant teenager. My life has been so nice since she grew up and moved out. Smelly volleyball shoes left on top of the coffee table, thongs tossed at the edge of the kitchen floor because she was too lazy to carry them a few more steps to the washing machine, stupid lizards and baby mice and crickets chirping through three Christmases, yeah, I think following behind her was my least favorite chore. *Now* she lives in a spectacularly clean house because her fiance is a neat freak and has developed the association with that making her a better person because her house is clean and other people’s aren’t. Note of interest: She worked at a theme park one summer with girls who job exchanged from Hong Kong, and brought them all by the house without warning one week when I was sick. They took pictures of ~everything~, my pile of dirty dishes, my pile of laundry, my unmade bed, the stack of papers on the table, everything in my house went over satellite to emails and websites to their friends in Hong Kong. I’m biding my time. One day I will go over to her house after she’s had a baby and is having a really rough week and start taking pictures…
Favorite drink?:
I dumped hot chocolate ~all over~ this keyboard yesterday. And it’s still working. I’m magical.
How long was your longest drive in a car?:
My parents used to pick us up after school on the last day before a holiday, we’d have to lay down in the station wagon because the back seats were all folded down, and we’d have to change into our pajamas and spend the next 17 hours being carsick. Any kind of traveling still makes me very sick.
Why do you do Myspace surveys?:
If you do these correctly, you don’t have to spend extra money on a psychologist.
