Five Things Meme

Celtic Mommy tagged me for a five things meme.
The rules:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
Hmmm, a lot of the same that I'm doing now--dog-sitting and working retail. Though I think I was also writing CD and band reviews for an online music site (a big deal one actually), and I had a boyfriend then (that relationship lasted four years. It ended about three and a half years ago). Five years ago, my dad was still alive, though quite ill.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1- Work on apron for Tie One On (it's going to be late. What else is new?)
2- Finish planting asparagus
3- Mail two packages and pick up my mail at post office (the main post office here is open until 4pm on Saturdays)
4- Wash clothes
5- Study for Monday's final exam
Note: I did accomplish all these things, but I can't believe I forgot to watch the cooking shows on PBS today! Aarrggggh! At least Diary of a Foodie will be available online eventually.

What are five snacks you enjoy?
A better question to ask me, ahem, would be what snacks DON'T I enjoy? I'm really bad. I eat tons of junk food
1- Milk chocolate
2- Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola (Mexican kind with sugar cane preferred)
3- Hawaiian BBQ chips from Trader Joes
4- Quesadillas, preferrably gorditas but definiately flour tortillas, with cheddar cheese and sea salt
5- The ice cream cones at Chick-Fil-a (or Tasty Freeze)

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1- Take my mom on a train trip across Canada
2- Take my closest friends to someplace wonderfully exotic
3- Buy a house in California. Maybe a turn of the century bungalow, with crazy wood details and built-ins. (You pretty much have to be a billionaire to do that here. No more American Dream. Not in California anyway)
4- Save some land from development
5- Donate to a worthy cause--maybe SOHO (Save our Heritage Organization)

What are five of your bad habits?
1- I love coming up with ideas for things--planning a design or a project. I love finding the materials I need or doing research. It's the follow-through and finishing part that I suck at.
2- I'm pretty lazy--I can lay on the couch and watch crime shows or food shows all damn day. Luckily I don't have cable at home, or I wouldn't get anything done! But I am thankful for that level of freedom to do as I please.
3- I have lots of cababilities and talents, but I don't have any goals to speak of. So I end up sort-of going through life in circles and not getting anywhere. I don't know how to channel my passions.
4- I have so many copies of patterns I have promised to send to people. I have good intentions, and I always come through in the end, but I hate going to the post office unless it's to pick up mail. Ditto going to Kinkos. Ugh.
5- I'm a grazer. I eat all day. Mostly junk food. Considering all the horrible stuff I've read about high fructose corn syrup lately, I really need to find alternative snacks.


What are five places where you have lived?
1- I was born in San Diego. My dad worked for International Harvester, so we moved around to his job sites where he worked on turbine engines. As a kid, I lived in Louisiana, Texas, and Wyomming. We moved to the house I grew up in when I was six
2- My first apartment was a cute little house in Crown Point (on the bay in Pacific Beach/San Diego)
3- In the late 80's I lived in San Jose. I hated it, so I moved up into the mountains in Aptos (by Santa Cruz), right on the water. Northern California wasn't a good fit for me, so after a year and a half I moved back home to San Diego
4- I sublet a loft in San Francisco for about a month while I was waiting for my work transfer to come through
5- I grew up in the East County, but it's near the beach that I love to call home. I've had three apartments in Pacific beach, a little cottage in Ocean Beach, rented an apartment in Point Loma, rented three houses in Clairemont. I lived in Rolando over by SDSU for a couple of months but it wasn't friendly enough to my liking. Now I live all over the county in other people's homes while they vacation.

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1- reservation sales agent for US Airways
2- proof operator for San Diego County Credit Union
3- my first job was McDonald's. I highly recommend this as a first job, because they teach you to have a fire under your butt--to keep busy, keep moving.
4- I did window displays for Miller's Outpost Clothing store
5- I sold wedding gowns, I worked for a pharmacy and delivered drugs to convalescent hospitals, I cashiered in a flower shop, I bagged groceries at Gemco (Lucky supermarket), I worked in lingerie at Bullocks Wilshire, and I've worked for one of those "big box stores" for almost 25 years now (ugh).

Five people I tag:
I'm going to break the rules here and not tag anyone. I personally don't mind being tagged, but I can't be positive that's the case with any of you. So I won't tag anyone, but feel free to play along if you'd like.

Things I Love

Some blog posts have a way of lingering...making an impression.
They stay with me like an itch, until I must scratch.

One beautiful post by Floresita caught my attention.
First a list of things she loves.
I love lists.
But within the list, a video to a song by Hope Sandoval, formerly of Mazzy Star.

As I said in the comments, that video took my on a journey to
You Tube, and hours and hours of exploring videos by Mazzy Star, Hope Sandoval, Jesus and the Mary Chain.
Then onto other bands, other voices.

I adore music.
It's odd that I have never played music or explored its impact
(other than a recent brief stint writing CD reviews or band interviews, there was only my 5th grade introduction to piano that was botched by a teacher I just plain ole did not like).
But her post is what inspired me to start Video Sunday--something I do mostly for my own enjoyment, though I do hope some of you investigate my findings and are moved by them.

So, with a nod to Floresita (who has an amazing collection of vintage embroidery patterns, by the way), here is my own list of things I love:

-the smell of freshly cut grass, or ripe apricots

-the soft sound of lapping waves at the shore

-sun on my face. The way it dapples and plays on water

-when men wink

-the Sea World Tower

-the way some books send me into another time. To quote a passage in The Thirteenth Tale, "It was like falling into water". I love when a book takes over like that--when you can't put it down. You have been captured, enthralled, embossed.

-the way my breath catches when I see a certain piece of art, or an architectural element that stirs me. It is inspiration and motivation at once--a wondering if I too could do something like that. It is hope in 3D.

-when dogs smile at me. Like they just know I'm a kindred spirit.

My Favorites

Trish has tagged me for a Four Favorite Things Meme.

Four Favorite Colors
*Fuschia (I vividly remember this Crayola crayon as a kid)
*Orange
*Glossy Black
*cranberry, especially in soft, velvet-like fabrics

Four Favorite Foods
Oh geez. I'm all about the junk food.
*Elotes (cups of corn) off the street vendor carts in Mexico, smothered in cotija cheese, lime, chile, and mayonnaise.

*Coca-Cola. Life is more joyous with Coke in it. Even better if it's made with cane sugar.
*Homestyle Mac n' Cheese, made with a white sauce, with bread crumbs on top. Perhaps also with home-grown heritage tomatoes.
*Cheese Melt from PL Bagels (Point Loma)--everything bagel, cream cheese, a slice of tomato, covered with swiss cheese, then all toasted into a cheesy chewy yummy mess.

Four Jobs I've Had
*I sold wedding gowns in a mall. The dresses were shown by appointment only. I was always get pulled outside and reprimanded for wearing my hair down rather than up. I see her point now, though I still wear my hair long and down.
*Delivery driver for a florist. I used to also wait on customers at night, and when we were slow, I'd fantasize about how I'd arrange the flowers in my wedding. Then I never got married.
*Delivery driver for a pharmacy. I drove all over San Diego county to convalescent hospitals or places where teens were locked up for drug abuse. Oh my, the stories I can tell....
*I worked reservations for a major airline. We regularly received calls from people with foot fetishes (what shoes are you wearing?...). Weird. But we were always there to answer the phone, 24 hours a day. Sometimes people would be on hold for so long that they'd be snoring by the time I got to them. We were monitored by management and time is money, so calls were supposed to be ten minutes maximum. When lonely WWII vets would call, I would converse with them for half an hour sometimes. It was interesting for me, and it gave him someone to talk to. People are always my first priority in situations like that.

Four favorite tv shows
I like to have the tv on for the noise during the day (hate it on when I'm trying to sleep though). I could watch A&E and the Food Network all damned day.
My favs change all the time. Right now, um, let's say
*Top Chef
*Forensic Files
*Ace of Cakes
*So You Think You Can Dance

Favorite Children's Names That I didn't use
This is another list that changes with the times
*Jenna
*David
*Marisol
*Brent

Four Website I visit every day
*Google
*a gazillion blogs (via Bloglines usually)
*Yahoo for my email
*Flickr

Four Movies I would watch over and over
Watching movies over doesn't appeal to me.
I don't really understand why people have DVD collections unless it's to entertain their little kids.
So I'll just mention the movies I HAVE seen more than once
*Babette's Feast
*All That Jazz
*The Buena Vista Social Club
*any of the Wooster and Jeeves episodes (not really a movie, but whatever)
Oh! And back in the day, I saw Love Story 13 times.
I guess if I'm mentioning multiple viewings, I have to say
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Cabaret (and A Chorus Line, but that was an album. Uh, literally).
I know all the words to all the songs of each.

Four Places I Love to Be
Again, a list that changes over time.
When I was younger, it was behind the ranger station at the park by my house.
Then, when I lived in Aptos (Northern California), it was on a cliff overlooking the beach. Again, by my house.
For awhile, I loved a lookout point behind some stores on Prospect Street in La Jolla, overlooking the Cove. Then they started closing it early, and the vibe was tainted. I used to love to go there and journal.

Now, maybe
*walking Dog Beach in Ocean Beach
*any coffee place with good friends and good conversation
*anyplace tropical, especially with a boyfriend to keep me safe and snuggly
*minutes spent alone and free and unencumbered--something I do every day, and cherish.

I'm going to skip the tag part, but feel free to post your own answers to your blog also.
I think it's fun to learn about one another this way.

I've been tagged

Crafty Gurlz Mum tagged me to discuss seven random things about myself. Ooh, at the risk of sounding insane, I'm going to be honest.

1) I'm going to give away my age here, but this is so odd I have to mention it. When I was a kid in elementary school, my friends Anna or Sue and I entertained ourselves by staging scary scenes around the house. We would lead one another, blindfolded...anticipating a scream.

Uh, we used REAL KNIVES, people.

Little vignettes of Chatty Cathy being murdered.
How lovely.

Hmmm...too bad we didn't take the idea to Hollywood. This was pre-Chuckie but we had definitely been influenced by 'Talking Tina' on the Twilight Zone, and some other scary dolls that were on Night Gallery.
By 5th grade, I was locking my dolls in a cabinet at night. Heaven forbid they'd come to life and attack me.
It's a Small World at Disneyland was even creepy.

When we weren't staging murder scenes, we closed ourselves up in a dark bathroom and screamed at my glow-in-the-dark skull (a Disneyland trinket from the Jungle Cruise area). My mom labeled HER weird--evidently she was in denial about me.

When Sue's staged events starting including words about Satan, it was too much for me. We stopped playing that game.

For the most part, dolls creep me out to this day.
I have always had an overactive imagination.

2) Speaking of overactive imagination, the movie Jaws did a number on me too. I stopped swimming in the ocean. I'm an excellent swimmer, and occasionally I'll force myself to swim a half mile in La Jolla Cove, but it terrifies me. I went kayaking in the Cove once, and was surrounded by sea lions. I love sea lions, but not right next to me like that. The idea of creatures swimming next to me is my hugest fear.

The house I lived in growing up had a pool with a plaster dolphin on one side. When I swam alone, I was positive the damn thing was really a shark and would come to life...chasing me.

3) Well, while I'm talking about fear, I may as well just keep going...
Sometimes I fear the dark. I am a dog-sitter, often sleeping in strange homes alone, and I have a tendency to watch crime and forensic shows all the time. Hmmm, add in my imagination, and sometimes I get creeped. Depends on whether or not I'm with a good watch dog. I refuse most jobs that use dog crates. I don't believe it's a 'safe' zone or any of the other nonsense reasons. Would you want to sleep in a cage? Yeah, me neither. Too, how is a dog supposed to do his job (protecting) if he's locked up? Hello...stupidity. I have convinced clients to toss the crates, and now only sit for people who crate during potty training.

4) Clutter makes me comfortable. If a house is too sterile, too clean, too simple, too stark...it lacks personality.

5) I have a hard time keeping up with reading all my magazines and throwing them out in a timely manner. I used to plead, "but I'm an artist! Artists NEED images...". Yeah, whatever. I am drowning in old magazines that need sorting through.

6) Surprisingly to some, I do not support Canine Companion animals. I find them to be, overall, a sad lot. I completely abhor the no-touching-its-working mantra. Dogs are intelligent beings--they understand when to play and when to work. I once saw an exhibition of police dogs demonstrate that concept--it was amazing to watch. If a dog chooses to help a disabled person, and that person doesn't mind other people coming up and saying hello, etc...well, that's okay. But I've seen too many grotesque examples, so, sorry...but I don't back them. Overall I am more pro-animal than people. Hey, it takes all kinds to make the world a balanced place. You focus on your pet project, and I'll focus on mine. Ditto lab testing on animals--no call for it, for ANY reason. Period. And don't bother to blast me with negative comments--there is no changing my mind.

7) I have mentioned this on my 100 things page, but I'll say it again. I like bugs (Melinda is shivering right now after reading her latest blog post, I stand corrected). June bugs are my favorite. And bumble bees, and honey bees, and ladybugs. Not cockroaches or silverfish, but most anything else. I have loved them forever. Maybe I should have been an entomologist.

I won't be tagging anyone, but feel free to post seven random things about yourself on your blogs too.

Me? Weird? Nah....

Would that I could find my photobooth pics to post...but they continue to be MIA.

Instead, Finny has tagged me for the 6 Weird Things About You meme. .

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog

Initially I couldn't really think of anything. I don't feel like I have any really quirky habits or anything. I'm sure my friends would beg to differ, haha, but I couldn't think of any. So this is what I came up with:

1) I love pomegranates, but I don't chew the seeds. I squish the seeds between my fingers and suck out the juice. My fingers get stained red, and I have to wear a bib for all the squirting redness. The only time I will chew the seeds is when I make Christmas Eve salad. Yeah, I know...
but it's how I ate them as a kid, and the method still stands.

2) I cannot stand the sound of paper being folded by someone else. That scratch across it just sends chills. Yeah, I know...

3) I am considered the ultimate perfectionist at work (in a cash vault). Money has to be faced and in perfect condition or I send it back to the bank. My nickname is "bad bill Barb". All my paperwork has to be meticulous. This goes for my sewing also. Order in my personal space though...forget it. I suck. I can never find anything.

4) I cuss like a sailor. Or Keira Knightly. Whichever (or I guess I should say whomever) you prefer.

5) I occasionally apply make-up while driving, though not quite as often as I used to.

6) I will not eat fish or anything even remotely like fish. I won't use a pan again if fish has touched it. I won't even be polite and eat it if served at someone else's house. My dad was a fisherman when I was a kid, and seeing all those gunny sacks filled just left some psychological damage. My brothers chasing me with crawdads didn't help either. This was already written on my 100 Things page, but I couldn't think of anything else. I guess I could say that I absolutely cannot stand it when men walk around without a shirt on (unless it's at the beach. As in ON the beach), but this is more a pet peeve than something weird about me.

Tagged: (but anyone feel free to join in)
Laura
Amy
Sue
Catrina
Mary Ann
Melinda