Randomly generated 7

So I didn’t officially get tagged for this meme, but everyone else was doing it, so I felt like I should too. Well, and I actually had several more small post ideas that I wasn’t quite sure how to turn into a post, so I figured this would be a good way to address those without feeling like I was slacking. Yes, this is a hint that it’s gonna be a long one.

The rules are:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share seven random or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. My food can’t touch one another on the plate. Each item gets it’s own little section of the plate and they cannot merge. If, as I’m eating, the food starts falling into one another I have to push them back to their own confines. This is made even more difficult by the fact that my kitchen table leans. We’ve adjusted the feet multiple times but can’t seem to get it level. I wonder if the tabletop is slightly bowed. Whatever the reason, I have to be very careful how I arrange my plate, especially if we have a meat that is dripping juice or vegetables in cheese sauce or dripping butter, so that everything doesn’t end up running together. I had mentioned something along these lines to Dave who laughed at how well this speaks to my obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

2. I can’t stand any scrap of fat on food. This is why I don’t eat prime rib, though everyone says it’s wonderful. It’s way too much work to pick all the fat off of it. Mr. B laughs at me as I’m scraping every last inch of fat off of a pork chop, steak, etc. then grosses me out as he shoves a huge piece of meat and fat into his mouth. Eww!

3. I’ve hit my head quite hard on multiple occasions. (No, this doesn’t, in fact, explain a lot, whatever you may be thinking.) I’m not going to go into all the details or we’ll be here all night. If you want more details, I’ll be happy to explain in more detail some other time. Basically, playing line soccer in 6th grade, I tripped at a full run and smacked my head into the floor. I also played on a fall soccer league at that time. I had a soccer ball kicked straight at my face from a close enough range that I didn’t have time to react before it hit me and knocked me over, not just once, but twice in the same game. Both hit me in exactly the same place, right at my eye, so I had a nice bruise. Then, in high school, while attending an all-night skate, a friend and I apparently locked wheels, and I fell headfirst into the floor. I say apparently because I don’t remember it, but that’s what she says happened. All I know is that one minute we were skating around and talking, and the next I was picking myself up off the floor with no idea what happened in between.

4. I have a tattoo on my lower right back. Ok, so I know this isn’t exactly news, though quite a few people were apparently surprised that I had one. But here’s a tidbit you maybe didn’t know. My tattoo is actually of a drawing of a dancing rose done by one of my ex-boyfriends. It’s not the stereotypical story, though. We’re still friends, and I got it a year or so after we broke up.

5. I can’t stand to have anything between my toes. Flip flops, those socks that fit around each toe like gloves, toe rings, and so on all just irritate me to no end. But, it doesn’t stop there. Just getting a thread caught between my toes makes me tense up. I just can’t stand the feeling. I tried a pedicure once and I couldn’t let her put the little foam separator between my toes. She tried using tissue since that wouldn’t be as thick, but any hope of relaxation was still out the window, even though I was sitting in a massaging chair.

6. I’m not a good collector. I have lots of the beginnings of a collection, but nothing that was really followed through to the end. I have a ton of mismatched Tweety, fairy, turtles, stuffed animals, etc. Lately, I think part of the problem is I’ve never collected any of the good souvenir items, so when I want to get a souvenir from a trip, I’m left to pick something that doesn’t match anything else cause they don’t have anything for my current collections. It’s not like Mr. B’s collection of shot glasses that you can find a wide variety of in any souvenir shop.

7. I played the flute in junior high and early high school. At the end of freshman year the band director ticked me off by calling my mom at work to say we should have scheduled the trip for my grandfather’s birthday around the concert band sectionals cause he was upset that one of his 20 flute players, not even one of the top chairs, was going to miss the contest. So I stuck around for sophomore year and the band trip to Toronto at the end of the year, and then I quit.

Now is where the tags should be, but since I wasn’t officially tagged and couldn’t link who tagged me to follow Rule #1, I’m throwing out Rules #3 and #4. If you find this and want to do it, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll check it out. If you’re just looking for some additional reading, check out Debra’s, Dave’s or Josh’s versions of this meme.

What would I do?

I was feeling a little guilty that today’s post wasn’t a whole lot of post, so I figured I’d do the meme that Debra found, cause 2 1/2 posts make a whole.

I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments.. what is it?

• Produce: Tomatoes, so long as they’re in season.
• Bakery: Cupcakes, maybe? Don’t shop in the bakery a whole lot.
• Meat: Steak
• Frozen Foods: Ice cream
• Dry Goods: Microwave Popcorn

Let’s say we’re heading out for a weekend getaway. You’re only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you. So, what’s in your bag?

• My most comfortable pair of jeans. Right now a pair of DKNY.
• My super comfy UK sweatshirt
• My super comfy Domain of Slack t-shirt

If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 5 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?

• *sigh* (For Dave, Josh and Mr. B)
• Did we have to go there?
• Grrr (yeah, that one is cause of work)
• I don’t care. Whatever.
• Leave me alone.

So, what 3 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn’t get to do, you probably wouldn’t be in the best mood?

• Take a shower
• Read (whether that be a book, comic, blog, etc.)
• Sit on the couch and watch a little TV

You just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. We’re talking a 3 hour block with nobody around. What 5 activities might we find you doing?

• Read
• Play around on the computer
• Read
• Catch up on TiVo or get sucked into some other TV show
• Read

We’re going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it’ll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to?

• Stingrays if they have them, though that’s usually aquariums
• Otters
• Tigers

You just scored tickets to the taping of any show that comes on t.v. of your choice. You can pick between 4, so what are you deciding between?

I gotta agree with Dave on this one. Not sure I’d want to see it being taped…but I guess if I was going…

• Heroes
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (though, its no longer on)
• Jay Leno (on a show including headlines and someone cool)
• Anything taped somewhere warm and sunny

You’re hungry for ice cream. I’ll give you a triple dipper ice cream cone. What 3 flavors can I pile on for ya?

• Chocolate chip cookie dough
• Strawberry cheesecake (there’s a good Ben & Jerry’s one, but I can’t remember what they called it)
• Vanilla with caramel swirls

Somebody stole your purse/wallet…in order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it. So, what’s in there?

• Borders gift certificates and coupons
• My driver’s license
• Vaseline lip gloss
• Cell phone
• My work badge

You are at a job fair, and asked what areas you are interested in pursuing a career in. Let’s pretend you have every talent and ability to be whatever you wanted, so what 4 careers would be fun for you?

• Writer (not necessarily novels, but at least short stories)
• Airbrush artist
• 3D animator
• Highly lucrative investor so I can just sit on my rear-end and watch the $ roll in (cause everyone doesn’t kinda wish they wouldn’t have to work but would make enough money for the good life)

If you could go back and talk to the old you, when you were in high school, and inform yourself of 4 things, what would you say?

• Enjoy summer breaks while you have them
• Spend more time writing
• Get more into computer graphics and animation
• Learn to have fun and not stress over stuff so much

I’m Seeing Fours

Four jobs I’ve held:

1. Math Tutor in WIU’s math help center – Where I learned I could never be a teacher
2. Graduate Assistant at WIU’s Rural Economic Technical Assistance Center – Spent a lot of time loading databases, creating reports, and stuffing envelopes
   
3. Fashions/Jewelry department at Kmart – Bad hours, bad pay, not much in the way of fun
   
4. IT Analyst – Probably already summed up in this blog somewhere

Four movies I can (and do) watch over and over again:

1. Anything with Orlando Bloom in it – What can I say? He’s hot!
2. Dirty Dancing – Not so much anymore, but I watched it at least 13 times in one year when it first came out
3. Serenity – I don’t really set out to watch this one most times, but if it happens to be on, I can’t not watch it, and I try to grab it frequently for road trips
4. Whole bunches of movies so long as they’re on TV – what can I say, I always have the TV on in the background and there’s a TON of movies I’ll watch cause they’re on. Most recently this has included The Day After Tomorrow, I, Robot, Van Helsing, and The Breakfast Club

Four places I have lived: (A small selection of the 14 houses/apartments/dorms spanning 9 cities in 5 states)

1. Madison, WI – Born, but not raised
2. Davenport, IA – I was pretty young, but two main memories: our car flooded when the creek overflowed and our van was vandalized
3. Coon Rapids, MN – Where soccer was big and remains the only sport I’ve ever really played and enjoyed
4. Versailles, KY – Horse country, though I never rode a horse the entire time there

Four TV shows I watch:

1. Heroes – Can’t wait for the new season to start on Sept. 24! Reruns start next Mon leading up to the new season!!! Season 1 DVD out on Aug 28!!!!!! (Paid programming sponsored by…well, unfortunately, no one associated with the show. )
2. Eureka – Extreme science gone awry
3. Rock of Love and The Two Coreys – Two guilty pleasures that I just can’t help right now, both a train wreck situation
4. Just about every car show on TV, whether I want to watch it or not.

Four places I’ve been on vacation:

1. Black Hills, South Dakota – Our first camping trip and the reason my parents decided to buy their own pop-up camper and drag us all over the place to go camping.
2. Toronto, Canada – It was a high school band trip, but it was a great way to celebrate a 16th birthday
3. Daytona Beach, Florida – The first real vacation I took since I started working
4. Gatlinburg, Tennessee – First vacation with a group of friends

Four favorite foods:

1. Popcorn
2. Cheesecake – oddly, I couldn’t stand cheesecake until about 5 years ago
3. Applebee’s Cinnamon Apple Crisp – Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued for a couple years now, but it was the best apple crisp ever
4. My mom’s beef stew

Four websites I visit:

1. Google Reader for blogs, Flickr, and online comics
2. IMDB
3. I Can Has Cheezburger? – Totally addicted
4. Apple Movie Trailers

Four people I’m tagging: (Most people have already been tagged…)

1. Rachel – though she hasn’t blogged in FOREVER
2. Sam
3. Korey
4. You- yes, you. You know who you are. (OK, so it’s a cop out. I’m not even sure if the people already listed are reading my blog, much less other people.)

Book Meme

Both Debra and exp626 did this book meme, so I had to jump on the bandwagon. I’m just a little behind…

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Mass market paperback. I don’t really feel the need to spend the extra money or extra bookshelf space on hardbacks, but I have for some, especially those I want to get my hands on right away, but I’m very particular about making my books match. If I get a series in paperback, I wait and continue in paperback. If it’s hardback, I spend the extra right away and continue with the hardbacks.

Online or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar most definitely. I have to check out the books, read the descriptions, and then search through the copies to find the one in the best shape. Plus, it’s much easier to peruse in person and get drawn in by cover art rather than perusing online.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Borders. I really got into Waldenbooks when my family moved to Kentucky and the library wasn’t that great and there was only Waldenbooks or Joseph Beth, a local store similar to Borders and Barnes and Noble. I signed up for Waldenbooks Preferred Reader and used it back here at school as well. Eventually, I got a Waldenbooks/Borders credit card, and I’ve been hooked since then. I regularly get lots of gift certificates for more free books. What more could I ask for?

Bookmark or dogear? Always bookmark. I don’t want the pages tattered, nor do I crack the spine. There’s a reason I look for the most pristine copy. Once I’m done reading, the book looks pretty much like it did when I bought it, except for the fact that the pages aren’t quite as compressed.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Alphabetize by author, though this rarely gets done since all my bookcases are overflowing and the books are put in wherever they’ll fit. Really gotta work on that…

Keep, throw away, or sell? Almost always keep. I did just let my mom sell a lot of my old books in a garage sale, but those were mostly children’s books that I probably wouldn’t read again.

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Keep it, especially since most of the hardback book covers are quite boring without it.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? Depends on whether its in the way or it seems like I’ll end up damaging it. Most of the time I leave it on.

Short story or novel? Usually novels, but a good collection of short stories works for me too.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Either.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter. Though I’ve heard the Lemony Snicket books are quite good, I haven’t read any and I haven’t seen the movie either.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Always at chapter breaks.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Not really either – both just seem too cliche for my tastes. But I’d take either story type.

Buy or Borrow? Generally buy cause if I like the book, I’ll want to have my own copy eventually anyway. But I do borrow from a friend if they suggest a book.

New or used? I’m too picky about the shape the book is in. I’ll buy a used book, but only if its in really good condition.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Recommendation or browse. I don’t tend to look at book reviews much.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? If it’s a cliffhanger, there’d better be a sequel.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? I’ll read any time I’m able to.

Stand-alone or series? Either way. I do like series for getting more story with characters I like, but I also enjoy a good stand-alone that I don’t get sucked into forever and have to sit and wait for the next book to come out.

Favorite series? Hm, that’s a tough one. I’d probably have to still say David Edding’s Belgariad and Mallorean series (same characters spanning two series), but I also like Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.

Favorite children’s book? The only thing coming to mind at the moment are Dr. Seuss books.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I haven’t really read much that has either been on or ended up on someone’s bestseller list.

Favorite books read last year? The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.

Favorite books of all time? Anything by David Eddings. I’ll also read anything by Christopher Pike.

Least favorite book you finished last year? I liked all the books I read last year, so I don’t know what would be my least favorite.

What are you reading right now? I just finished reading Blue Moon, eighth book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I’m about to start the ninth book, Obsidian Butterfly.