It's all Slinky and Slippery

This meme comes from Where the Green Grass Grows.


1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
Still in Ontario (maybe BC if not Ontario) but on a high point of land overlooking the sea, or a really big body of water. Surrounded by fields of wildflowers and forests beyond that. Not too far from a city for book shopping, lattes and Internet connections.

2.What is your favorite article of clothing?

Nightgowns. Sometimes soft and warm and sometimes slinky and slippery.

3. Last C.D. you bought?
Jann Arden.

4. Where is your favorite place to be?
Exploring a really interesting old house with my camera and a coffee waiting out in the car.

5. Least favorite place to be?
Out in the cold, waiting for a bus. Though I'm sure there are worse places that is the first that came to my mind today.

6. Are you strongest in mind or body?
Probably not either one. Mind, maybe, only because it can outthink my body.

7. What time do you wake up?
Different every day.

8. Favorite kitchen appliance?
Refridgerator. What would we do without it? I never had to deal with an ice box or rely on a root cellar and hope for the best. I'm quite happy to leave those experiences to the older generations.

9. What instrument would you like to play?
Piano maybe.

10. Favorite color?
Deep, dark red.

11. Sports car of SUV?
Neither one. I've seen both with very poor and thoughtless drivers. I'd rather have a sedan type of car or a smart car - they're so small they are kind of cute. Or a VW Bug, a combination of the sedan and smart car look.

12. Favorite children’s book?
The Raggedy Ann series. I remember them from when I was a kid.

13. Favorite season?
Spring. I would have said Winter, but that was before we moved to Barrie.

14. Least favorite chore?
Looking after other people. I need a break!

15. Favorite day?
Everyday that I'm feeling ok and still on the planet.

16. Favorite food?
That's a long list. Lattes, cheesecake, ice cream, Chinese, Mexican, the salad bar...

17. Favorite drink?
Various coffees, right now it's the Dolce latte.

18. Favorite word?
Free.
19. Favorite inspirational book?
Don't have one.

20. Who would you like to play you in the movie of you life?
Winoa Ryder. She could do it mentally, but it would be hilarious to see her dressed up in a big enough fat suit to look like me.

Are you Digitally Distinct?

Interesting concept. But the silly thing about this is that I don't use my full name online. So it's kind of pointless.I may try it with ThatGrrl. But it's getting kind of late and I could be playing online games instead of sleeping.

Odd Shots: Photo Meme

Odd Shots - Post your photos of something unusual each Monday.

12 Things from Bev on Facebook

From Bev on Facebook: 12 Things (You Shouldn't Really Tell People About Yourself).

1. What is your most obsessive thought?

So hard to pick just one. Seriously. I guess it would be the feeling of being oppressed and trapped by people and circumstances. I've often thought my life would be so much simpler if I could have a lobotomy and then just go along and do what everyone wants me to do without feeling I want to do anything my own way or have something of myself ever again.

2. Where is your favorite place in the world, and why?

Right where I am at this moment. Anything else is either a memory or hasn't happened yet. I like to think of places I have been sometimes, wonderful things I have seen but my favourite place in the world is always right here and right now. From this moment in space and time everything is ahead of me and here I am right in the middle of the past and the future, in this moment, living it.

3. What's the one thing your parents don't understand about you?

I'm not as stupid as they think I am and yet I'm actually stupider in a way.

4. If you could relive a single day or moment, what would it be?

None, nothing. I don't want to go back for anything. Though I would like eternal life so I don't have to stop and leave the ride.

5. Under what circumstances have you been closest to death?

Three different times in my life when I came really close to suicide and madness. Once as a teenager, another time during my divorce and another time when things were very desperate and I was very trapped and alone.

6. What is the worst betrayal you have ever experienced?

I don't know. I just don't hang on to those things. There are people I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole but I don't remember why, just that they've burned every bridge and won't be getting any leeway from me.

7. What is the most meaningful "I love you" someone has said to you, or that you have said to someone else?

I don't say it and when I do it is hard to push the words out. I can tell my nephew I love him cause I've been saying it since he was a little boy. I couldn't tell my Dad I love you before he died and I'm not sure if I really even regret that. Either way it's done. I don't think I really believe it any more when someone says it to me. The words just don't seem to mean anything to people and they mean too much to me. But, in family it is there and has been tested enough over time that the words don't really need to be spoken. I know we love each other even if we hate each other for a short while.

8. What was the single most terrifying moment of your life?

Going through a divorce, very alone and being trapped by circumstances. Having a day when I realized how thin and flimsy it was to go from sane to madness and knowing I was there but for the leap. It was terrifying to know I could lose myself, the only thing I really ever had to count on.

9. If you have experienced a moment of sudden faith or loss of faith, what prompted it?

Having your best friend, husband and the man who said he loves you turn around and start mentally abusing you is a pretty nasty moment of having your faith crushed.

10. If you could take back one thing you have done, what would it be?

I'd take back eating all these Valentines chocolates I bought on sale today.

11. What is your greatest talent or accomplishment?

Art whether its photos, crochet embrodiery, sewing, ASCII art, drawing, writing or anything else I have tried, I am who I am because creating makes me feel I'm more than just who I am. I feel I have accomplished something, talent or no.

12. What is the most joyful moment you have experienced?

Thinking I was really in love and loved in return. I saw the whole world in brighter colours and everything looked so much better for awhile. I finally understood what romance and love were about.

Photo Challenge Meme

Photo Challenge Meme - Find a photo from your archives or directories or however you sort them out. Look for "directory #6 in my photo-directory and photo #6" or just kind of pick one if you are like me and don't have them organized in any real way.

A to Zed

Using one word for each letter of the alphabet, make a list of the words you most associate with yourself or that you feel best describe you. From Bev on Facebook.

A - Artistic
B - Bonfire
C - Canadian
D - Dragon
E - Elemental
F - Frozen
G - Graphics
H - Hello
I - Independent
J - Jigsaw
K - Kilter
L - Lemon
M - Mystery
N - Nephew
O - Obsessive
P - Pagan
Q - Quiet
R - Romance
S - Sagittarius
T - Tease
U - Unscheduled
V - Vanilla
W - Writing
X - Xylophone
Y - Yellow
Z - Zed

Christmas Spirit Award

Sandee on Comedy Plus was given this award and left it for all the other Christmas types to pick up as they like.

Here are the rules for the Christmas Spirit award:

* You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
* The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
* You must link back to the person who gave you the award.
* You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!
* Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!
* Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

Five things I like about Christmas:

1. That feeling of Christmas spirit. It's not something that comes so easily now that I'm not a kid looking forward to time off school, presents and lots of chocolate goodies. Now those bursts of Christmas spirit are a real joy and I appreciate them far more.

2. The Christmas tree. I have not put up a tree since my divorce. This year I have it on the go. The assembly is giving me a lot of trouble and it isn't looking good. But, one of my favourite things about Christmas is the tree with all the ornaments and lights. Each ornament comes with some kind of story, each is special for a reason.

3. I love the lights when you are outside at night. They glow in the darkness. I love the ones with lots of colour but the best shows are often those with just one or two colours, they take my breath away.

4. I miss making snow people. I like seeing those others have made and I feel sorry for the snow people and the families who built them as they melt when the weather changes.

5. Christmas angels are kind of special though not as a religious idea. My Mom and I have a collection of them, adding a new one each year. Now that she snowbirds in Florida every Christmas I'm doing the angels by myself. Feels a bit empty and lost now but I carry on. I still have the original angel which she bought when I was born, December 19th quite a few years ago.

The Book Reading Meme

I'm starting to feel like something alive again.

Here is a meme about books which came from The Road I'm Traveling to Word Grrls. But Word Grrls isn't going to be a personal blog so I'd rather not run memes on it.

The rules for the meme:

"Open the book closest to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following there."

The book closest to me right now is the one I just started reading this morning. I have been waiting (impatiently) for the next in her series to come out in paperback. It's from Kelley Armstrong, a Canadian paranormal fiction writer. Her books are often stuck in the horror shelves though. The title is Personal Demon and I'm not as far as page #56 so this feels a bit like sneaking a peek ahead. Which I do, upon occasion. Usually cause I hate finding out the long, hard way that a character I like is going to come to a bad end. One thing good about not reading standard romance fiction is that sometimes there are bad ends. It's unpredictable.

The young man grinned. "I believe I can manage."

"Just don't talk her ear off. I want you both back by nine. You're on floor duty tonight. Oh, introductions. Faith, Jasper. Jasper, Faith."

The Game is Afoot!

I got this in email but it's kind of fun. You could do it in blog comments. Everyone makes a one word comment and then posts the game to their own blog for everyone to comment there too. If you carry on the game add a note to your one word post so we can follow to your blog. Kind of like visiting all the neighbours.

The Game is on!!! And you're IT! Describe ME in one word.
Just one single word, be honest if you are going to respond. Send it to me and to me only.
Then send this message to all your friends and see how many strange & interesting things they say about you.
This is really fun. Here's how to play:
1.) Hit the reply key and send one word. 2.) Then return to this message, and forward it to your friends (including me) and see what people say about you when limited to one word!!!

Words sent to me so far (in email):

talented
curious
creative

Bad Boy Memes

Ben has a post about memes. Ten reasons why memes are wicked and unwanted and undesirable. If memes were men we would all want one at this point. Isn't that kind of ironic?

I posted a comment sticking up for the lowly meme. Add your thoughts about the life of the meme to Ben's blog.

I do memes if they are interesting or if someone I regularly read tags me with one. I pass on most of them because they are repetitive. It's easy to jump all over memes and be part of the "in" crowd. But my blog is personal and having traffic is interesting but not the reason I keep a blog. I do a meme if I want to. Answering the questions are fun if you don't take them seriously. No one needs to know your first pet's name but you don't have to take it seriously and give a real answer. Instead of writing a pet's name write the name you called your last boyfriend when you played naughty games. That's far more fun than reading anything real or true.

I wrote a confession to being a nose picker once and had loads of comments, most laughing about my post. One posted about how unsanitary that is and blab, blab, blab. It didn't matter. The post was fun to write and it still gets traffic even though it's well buried in my archives now.

Last of all, you're making a mistake if you write a blog to please your readers. You lose something when you write for an audience. It's much more interesting to step inside a blog when someone is writing just to please themselves. You take more chances and are far more likely to be unique and original. Anything less is just following the crowd and then you're just one more blog in the swamp.

Six Random Facts

Six Random Facts About You Meme

If Lucy tagged me on her way to work that would be quite interesting. How do you blog and drive?

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I am a secret soap opera watcher. I used to watch Another World, until they took it off the air. Now I have been watching All My Children and One Life to Live cause it had some of the actors from Another World. They aren't still there now though. :(

2. A really good first date for me would be a guy who brings a potted plant, buys me a latte and then talks about something creative and interesting (not too unusual) which he likes to do as a hobby.

3. I have several lottery tickets which I have not checked yet. Some may already be past the time limit. It just spoils it for me to check them. As long as they are unchecked there is a small potential that I could be a millionaire and never have to worry about money again. But, once I check them they are nothing but compost.

4. I don't like mushrooms. Even the smell of them cooking is gross to me. The rest of my family loves them, of course.

5. I daydream too much. Probably.

6. I have a missing tooth. Luckily it is towards the back and seldom seen.

Seven Random Facts About Me

Izabela tagged me with this meme:

THE RULES
1. Link to your tagger and list all these rules in your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

FACTS ABOUT ME:
1. I like to create elegant gowns (in my imagination) which I would wear to the Oscar Awards when I attend with Keanu Reeves. I always look fabulous!
2. I love chocolate, vanilla and caramel. Together, when possible, even in coffee flavours.
3. I would rather have a good coffee (latte) than any kind of alcoholic beverage. I'm usually the only one ordering coffee when I go to a bar. That's why I seldom go to bars, just not my thing. People must think I'm a recovering alcoholic, I'm not, I just prefer coffee.
4. When I was a teenager I promised myself I'd never be one of those women who colours her hair. I loved my natural colour. Never say never.
5. My nephew likes to hold my hand and pick my fingernails. I don't know why. Having my fingernails picked gives me major ick factor and I always yank my hand away.
6. I really, really do want a time machine or to be immortal and live forever at the age I am now. I'd settle for being a shapeshifter, maybe. You can't have everything.
7. I'd like to live as a vagabond or nomad, traveling all over the world as long as I had a home base to come back to and stash my computer, books and other essential treasures.

Consider yourself tagged to continue on. *Much evil laughter*.

The Book Meme

The Book Meme from Lady Banana.

Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST. Tag five other people to do the same.

I just finished reading Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter. I've got it near the computer so I remember to look up her blog. It's not the first of her books I have read but it was one of the better ones, quite fun.

Page 56:

Hell? I'd never seen anything like it, never heard of anything like it. Was I hallucinating after all? No, no. That couldn't be right. This felt real. That meant the air was stopping him, really stopping him.

I'm cheating on the tagging part. Tag yourself if you're interested.

I Want That Wednesday: A Ball Gown

Today I'd like a ball gown and someone to dance with. Of course, I also want to be that size so I could fit into that ball gown.

I Want THAT Wednesday!

Meme about Blogging

1. How long have you been blogging?
Since sometime in 1998.

2. Any advice to beginners?
Keep it fun. If it begins to be a job you need to take some time off.

3. What are the good things blogging has brought to your life?
I've used it as a journal during some hard times. I have met a lot of people (even though it is just online) who I would not have met otherwise. I've also found new creative ideas and outlets, more all the time.

4. What would you consider the pitfalls?
The commercialness which started a few years ago and is building up like a giant puss-ball zit these days. I expect it will keep getting worse until someone finds the next great idea in spamming.

5. Tell us about your blog name. Ever think of changing it? If so, to what? Why?
That Grrl. It's had a few other names (I'd have to think really hard to remember them) but I don't think I would change is again now.

6. Knowing what you know now, was starting a blog a good thing for you? Why or why not?
I think it was a good thing. I love the creative aspect. I like seeing what I can do with my limited abilities in coding and graphics.

7. How do you think blogging, bloggers, or the blogosphere has changed since you started?
I started a long time ago. Things have changed in huge ways. I miss the old days when blogging was personal. I'm pretty sick of the commercial blogging stuff and the fast, fake friends in social network stuff now.

8. Ultimately, what would you like your blog to accomplish for you or others?
I don't have a plan with a lot of goals and accomplishments. I'd like others to find something interesting maybe even useful. Mostly I blog for myself. To stretch my creativity and give myself a place to write when I want to tell myself something.

I found this one on Sunday Stealing. It's from a couple of weeks ago.

Silly Things

Found this quote in Pink Ink today.

“The best things in life are silly. “ - Scott Adams

Sunday Stealing Meme

My favorite age: The current age. As much as I like castles and drooling over weird and sexy space creatures I think I'm best to be right where I am.

My best friend(s): I don't keep friends very long.

My celebrity crush: Keanu Reeves, for his mind.

My defining characteristic: My neck, it saves me from having to carry my head around. (A Halloween moment).

My most evil moment: Evil?... Me? You must be dreaming.

My favorite food: really good ice cream.

My grossest injury: A nail through my foot.

My biggest hatred: People who think they are superior to the rest of the masses.

My most illegal activity: Shoplifting. It was a long time ago.

My need for justice: Only if Justice is really cute and brings me flowers.

My most knowledgeable field: I'm sure I could grow a field of mint. It's pretty easy.

My life’s goal: I'm just not that organized.

My mother’s influence: Constant and enduring.

My nerdiest point: In spite of everything I'm still optimistic.

My oldest memory: Sitting on a swing set by myself at school in Kincardine, Ontario. I think it would have been preschool age. It was another year or more before I found the co-ordination to make the swing go anywhere.

My perfect date: I've given up on that one. I'd settle for good conversation with a guy who isn't just a walking penis.

My unanswered question: Which one?

My random fact: I miss being 42 cause for one year I was the answer to life, the universe and everything.

My stupidest decision: Hard to pick just one. Yet I stand by even my lamest moments cause I was making the best decision I could at the time.

My favorite television show: Maybe Doctor Who these days. I used to love Gilmore Girls but it's off the air now.

My style of underwear: Cotton and pretty.

My favorite vegetable: Raw carrots.

My weakest trait: The feeling of powerlessness.

My X-men power: Invisibility and/ or shapeshifting. Time travel would be a nice side too.

My strongest yearning: Money and lots of it, enough to never have to worry about it again.

My moment of Zen: I don't have any of those. I'm just too wicked I guess.

The Handwriting Meme

For the Handwriting Meme from Sanni-licious. I found the meme on Comedy Plus. Here are the rules from Sanni-licious.

1.) Go ahead, get a piece of paper and a pen. Prepared? Okay!
2.) Write a pangram* in your language. Sign your paper with your first name or your nickname (not your signature!!!). You can also include your blog URl if you want to.
3.) Take a picture.
4.) Post it on your blog! Leave a comment here (or a trackback) once you have posted.
5.) Link back and tag - don’t be shy!

Yes, it is that simple!

Manic Monday: Formula

Manic Monday

Monday Musings

“Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.”- Horace Greeley

This was on the back of the t-shirt of kids at a tennis event on Sunday. The shirts and event were part of Simcoe Tennis

“There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.”

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

- Andre Gide