Bookworm Meme

The lovely and talented m. heart has tagged me with a meme! Here are the rules:

1. grab the nearest book.
2. open the book to page 56.
3. find the fifth sentence.
4. post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5. don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. pick the closest.
6. tag five people to do the same.

This is interesting because the nearest book to my computer is actually one that I haven't started reading yet. Right before Thanksgiving I checked out 4 books from my local library to keep me well-stocked with reading material. I've finished and returned 2 of the books, and I'm almost done with the third. That last one is the nearest one.

At this point I need to give a warning that if you don't like to mix politics with your blog reading, please skip this post.

The book is called Big Lies: The Right Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth by Joe Conason. This is what the sentences starting with the 5th one on page 56 contain:

Within weeks after Congress returned from the holiday recess, Republican leaders resumed their mugging of Daschle, feigning terrible offense at mild remarks he had made about the progress of the war against Al-Qaeda and the imperative of capturing Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban mullahs. Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, chairman of the GOP's congressional campaign committee, ranted that Daschle's "divisive comments have the effect of giving aid and comfort to our enemies by allowing them to exploit divisions in our country." Tom DeLay called Daschle's comments "disgusting".

Tom Daschle was a well-known U.S. Senator (and top-ranking Senate Democrat) from South Dakota , and the comments above come from 2001. In the 2004 midterm elections Daschle was defeated by a Republican challenger. You may have heard his name recently because Daschle was just nominated for the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services by President-elect Barack Obama.

Since I haven't read the book yet I haven't fully processed any opinions about it, but I think I can safely say that it provides a look at how divisive politics have become in this country, which is something that a lot of us are repulsed by. Somehow over the last 15 years it seems that political discourse has become so nasty and cutthroat. What ever happened to disagreeing in a civil manner? Unfortunately I don't see this changing any time soon, if ever.

This passage from the book refers to a practice that I find repugnant – that of questioning the patriotism of anyone who opposes the views of the Bush administration. The whole “you’re either with us or you’re against us” mentality. There was a lot of that going on in the U.S. after the attacks of September 11th.

For one thing, the world cannot be reduced to black and white or good versus evil. That’s a simplistic view that has gotten us into a huge mess over the last 8 years. Secondly, we have a concept in this country called freedom of speech. Calling someone unpatriotic or un-American because you disagree with what they are saying pretty much goes against one of the core founding principles of the United States. Of course you can disagree with someone, but I think we need to remember that we’re on the same side in the big picture. We should focus on our common goals and stop focusing so much on issues that mostly serve to divide us. I think it will be interesting to read this book in light of the fact that the leadership in this country will be changing soon. And it's also interesting to ponder where Tom DeLay is today.

And that’s all I have to say about that!

I'm going to refrain from tagging anyone since there aren't even 5 people who read this blog! But if anyone reading wants to play along, consider yourself tagged!

It's Time For Some Meme Payback!

OK. I’m way behind on a crapload of tags. No surprise there. But I’m going to try and catch up. This seven things about me is to pay off this and this!

1. School is driving me crazy this semester. In general I have liked most of the online classes I have taken so far. However, this semester I’m taking one class that is kind of a struggle. There’s just not enough structure for me. The prof seems kind of hands-off, and the readings aren’t very specific. For example we’ll have a link to a web page with a bunch of links about our topic and we have to pick something on our own. Some of them are really long and some are short so it’s hard to know what to pick sometimes since stuff that’s too short isn’t meaty enough to write about and the really long stuff is hard to condense. At least they seem to be grading fairly easy!


2. I hate working on Saturdays. The last few weeks when I’ve had to work on Saturday I’ve gotten a migraine either the night before or sometime Saturday. Obviously it’s my body reacting to something it doesn’t want to do. It’s not that I don’t like the library, in fact I do like working there. But having to work 6 hours on Saturday after having worked a full week just doesn’t sit well with my psyche.

3. Cara Cara oranges – I posted a photo of one of these a little while back. I’ve become addicted to these oranges. The inside is kind of a pinkish orange color – they taste like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit. I’ve been eating one of these a day. I know they will be out of season soon enough, so I shouldn’t get sick of them before then. I love oranges, but when I start getting a bunch of them that are dried out and mealy I get grossed out by them. That hasn’t happened yet with these. Does anyone know how to avoid those dried out oranges?


4. My aunt teaches elementary school kids. One time when I was at her house she told me how she teaches her kids to sing one verse of “Old MacDonald” when they wash their hands so that they scrub long enough. Now sometimes I catch myself doing the same thing. Hopefully now some of you will do it too.

5. When I was a little kid I had to have a nightlight in my room when it was time to go to sleep. Now I want it as dark as possible when I sleep. Kind of ironic I suppose.

6.I’m currently playing lots of retro video games. Ever since I saw that Donkey Kong movie my dormant interest in retro video games has been rekindled. I have some retro game collections on my PSP, and I’ve been playing lots of Galaga lately. A little bit of Pac Man too. Unfortunately there’s no Donkey Kong on the discs that I have.

7. Apparently I like strawberry beer. A couple of weeks ago I saw this beer at a local grocery store. Yep, strawberry-flavored beer. Abita makes one of my all-time favorite beers, Turbodog (also one of the best beer names ever), and I liked the pecan beer they came out with last fall so I decided to give this a shot. Beer flavored with fruit has a long tradition in brewing, especially in Belgium, and I’ve found that I enjoy many of these beers. This one is no exception. The strawberry flavor and aroma is subtle, and the beer doesn’t taste overly sweet.

I won't tag anyone. If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

7 Random Things About Thanksgiving Me

I've been doubly tagged for this meme, by Anne and Elissa. So I guess I better do it!

Here are 7 random things about me:

1. I used to like cauliflower, but I don’t anymore. Ever since I figured out that it looks like mutant broccoli it’s freaked me out.
2. I’ve never been to Ohio.
3. My DVDs are alphabetized, but the plastic and cardboard cases are in separate alphabetized sections. That’s because if you mix the cardboard cases with the plastic cases they can be kind of hard to remove from the shelf.
4. My CDs are alphabetized too.
5. Despite the last 2 items, I’m actually a fairly disorganized person. One look at my desk at work or my house will show this.
6. I haven’t been clean-shaven in over 6 years.
7. I’ve never had a broken bone.

I’m not going to tag anyone for this because just about everyone I know with a blog has done this one already.

If you're in the U.S. have a happy Thanksgiving! If you're elsewhere have a happy Thursday!

A To Z Meme

I have been tagged by the smart, talented, and beautiful Vedrana to share this A to Z meme. This one is a bit different than the other ones that I have done because only the letters are provided. I have listed some words that describe me to match each letter.

A – Art – I love art in all kinds of forms.
B – Blogger – I never thought I would be one, but after doing this for 2 years plus I guess it’s definitely a part of who I am.
C – Curious – I like to think about why things are the way they are.
D – Diet – I am currently very focused on what and how much I eat since I’m trying to drop a few pounds.
E – Exercise – I am also focused on exercise as part of my weight-loss plan.
F – Frugal – My maternal grandfather was a very frugal person, which I think to some extent came from living through the Great Depression. I think I inherited this quality. I think it’s important to have some money saved up for a rainy day, and this has served me very well.
G – Geography – I love maps. I used to look at my dad’s National Geographic atlas for hours at a time. I love Mapquest!
H – Headaches – I have suffered from migraines since I was about 14 years old. Luckily I have been able to control them quite well with medicine for about 13 years now.
I – Introverted – I’m much more inwardly-focused than outward when it comes to dealing with people. Talking to people I don't know can make me nervous.
J – Joking – I like to joke around with people. It can be a good way to defuse some of the tension of interpersonal interactions.
K – Knowledge – I love learning new things.
L – Lazy – I can be really lazy sometimes. Like every Saturday.
M – Movies – I like movies a lot although I don’t watch as many as I used to.
N – News – I like to know what’s going on in the world. I get most of my news from the Internet rather than television though.
O – Outre – What can I say? I’m a weirdo.
P – Photography – One of my favorite hobbies. I could take photos all day if I had the time.
Q – Questioning – This goes along with the curious/learning thing.
R – Reading – I read almost all day. I don’t actually read that many books, I seem to read mostly magazines and things on the Internet.
S – Shy – This comes from being introverted.
T – Travel – I love to travel, but a lack of money keeps me from travelling much right now.
U – Unusual – I have a weird sense of humor, and lots of people think I’m strange. Have I mentioned that yet?
V – Vacation – I love vacations. Who doesn’t?
W – Ween – I love that band!
X – X Man - I can be somewhat mysterious, I don’t reveal a lot about myself to just anyone.
Y – Yada yada – Once I feel comfortable around someone I can talk their ears off.
Z – Zymurgy – I’ve been known to brew my own beer. It’s a cool combination of cooking and science project.

If you want to do this meme, consider yourself tagged!

5 Foods That I'm Ashamed to Eat

The lovely (I’m extrapolating from eyes and ears) and talented Anna tagged me for this meme. Officially it is "Five Foods That I’m Ashamed to Love". But I've been thinking about this and with the possible exception of sweets, I'm not really ashamed of any foods that I love. So I'm just going to focus on the "shame" aspect. These are kind of more of a "I eat them because I have to eat something but I'm not proud of it" deal. Or somesuch.

1. Boxed macaroni & cheese
Yep, the stuff that comes with that little packet of Day Glo powdered “cheese”. A few years ago I switched to the kind that at least comes with the liquid cheese mixture, and it was much better. Once I had some of the powdered stuff in the middle of that stretch and I could hardly stand to eat it. Then I got really sick of mac & cheese and just stopped eating it for a while. By the time I was ready to eat it again I was unemployed, and the idea of a 33 cent meal sounded pretty damn good. It’s also a matter of convenience since I can be chowing down within about 10 minutes.

The thing that I hate the most about this stuff is that it’s so emblematic of the pre-prepared crap churned out by giant industrial agribusinesses. I think these companies are ruining agriculture and I would really like to get to a place where I am eating more non-processed stuff that is as local as possible. I have made some improvements in my fruit and vegetable consumption this year, so I’m hoping to build from there.

2. Spaghetti sauce from a jar
I have never made spaghetti sauce from scratch. Never! Can you believe it? I recall my parents doing it a couple of times when I was a kid, but a lot of the time it was bottled. Obviously we’re not Italian. I do want to try it someday. Again it comes down to the convenience issue. When I get home from work I’m usually ready to eat fairly quickly. The only way to do that? Buy pre-prepared crap. Although maybe I can make some up one weekend and freeze it for use later in the week.

3. Candy
I definitely have a sweet tooth. If there’s candy around, I’ll eat it. That’s why I don’t have candy around my house. However, at work people like to leave big bags of candy lying around. Sometimes I find them impossible to ignore during those long stretches between lunch and quitting time. I think I have a sugar addiction, which is probably not surprising for someone who grew up with a typical American diet. I’m trying to cut back on sugar because it just doesn’t have anything of nutritional value to offer. I also believe that refined sugar is something that our bodies haven’t evolved to process very well. All this processed crap, evolutionarily speaking, has come along in the blink of an eye and our bodies just don’t do well with handling it.

I’ve tried to eat bananas, dried fruit, grapes, or raisins instead, but I haven’t been entirely successful. The only thing that seems to work (and temporarily at that) is that I’ll notice that my pants seem to be fitting a bit snugly some mornings and I’ll swear off the candy so my clothes will fit better. Then once that’s been accomplished I think “Well, I seem to have lost a couple of pounds, I can have a treat”. Vicious, meet cycle.

Yesterday I saw this article, which basically affirms that if food is around people are going to eat it. Maybe I’ll leave a copy under the bag of candy at work.

OK, here's one candy that I can legitimately say that I love that grosses some people out - those candy circus peanuts! Although seeing as how I just found out that the gelatin they use is made from pork skin, I'm not sure I can eat them anymore!

4. Frozen burritos
These used to be much more of a staple for me, but I will still eat one every now and then. I used to eat those Patio beef & bean burritos all the time. More recently I have tried some of the healthier ones, like the Amy’s or some of the ones they carry at Whole Foods (I’m not a fan of the Whole Foods brand ones though). But really, can it get any lazier than this? How hard is it to make a fresh burrito with decent ingredients? Not very.

5. Taco Bell
I’ve pretty much sworn off most forms of fast food. I’ve been fairly burger and fry free since watching Super Size Me and reading Fast Food Nation, with one rare exception (I'm definitely not ashamed of liking In N Out Burger). There’s still one place that I may end up going if I need something quick and cheap to fill my gut, and that’s Taco Bell. I think it’s because I feel like as crappy as it is, it’s still healthier than a burger and fries. And it is a pretty rare occurrence, I think it may have been 6 months or more since I’ve eaten there. I always feel so dirty afterward.


OK, I know I’m supposed to tag people for this. I usually don’t because I feel bad about taking so long when people tag me. Deb, you like to do memes, so put this one in your rainy day file. If anyone else wants to do this one, knock yourself out!

8 Random Facts

Kit tagged me to do this meme a few weeks ago. For some reason I’m really bad about doing things that I get tagged for, but I try to do them eventually!

8 Random Facts About Me

1. By the time I was 5 years old, I had lived in 3 states. But in the last 30 years I have only lived in one state.

2. Even though I have lived in Texas for 30 years now, I can’t stand country music. However, if forced to listen to Willie Nelson or Lyle Lovett I can resist the urge to slit my wrists.

3. I’ve never had a broken bone.

4. I’ve never had surgery.

5. I absolutely hate getting up early. For me “early” is any time before 9AM. This hasn’t changed after 12 years of having jobs where I have had to get up early. I think it’s just a part of my makeup, like my eye color.

6. I mow my own lawn.

7. The summer before my senior year in high school I went to live with my uncle in Florida and worked at Disney World. I wanted an adventure, and I got one. The job was by no means glamorous – I was a custodian who spent most of my time sweeping up trash, and they were dead serious about keeping that place clean. But the people-watching was top-notch. Men who worked there weren’t allowed to have facial hair, which wasn’t a huge problem for me back then but I did have to shave the peach fuzz on a regular basis. I always thought it was funny though because Walt Disney himself had a mustache. I think they may have since revised their policy to allow mustaches, but back then they didn’t. I also had to keep my hair somewhat short. I learned some important things that summer like how to cook for myself and do my own laundry. I am grateful to my parents for letting me do that.

8. I’m going on a short trip next week. For now I’ll specify it as an undisclosed location. It can be a surprise for all 3 of you. Except one of you already knows where I’m going (shh, don’t tell). Then I’ll beat everyone down with pictures after I get back. I’m sure you can’t wait.

I’m supposed to tag 8 people, but 8 people don’t even read my blog and a couple of the people who do have already done this. So I won’t tag anyone. If you want to do this one, though, knock yourself out!

A to Z, Da Return

Tish tagged me for this A to Z meme. I actually already did this one a few months ago, but I’ll do it again. Let’s see if I get the same results.

A-Attached or Single? Do you really even need to ask at this point?
B-Best Friend: Mary
C-Cake or Pie: Cake. No pesky crust to deal with.
D-Drink of Choice: Water
E-Essential Item: House key
F-Favorite Color: Green
G-Gummi Bears or Worms? Definitely bears. It’s more fun to bite their heads off.
H-Hometown: Richardson, TX
I-Indulgence: Good coffee
J-January or February: January. More days off.
K-Kids: Nope
L-Life is incomplete without: Food
M-Marriage Date: Not applicable
N-Number of Siblings: 1
O-Oranges or Apples? Oranges. I’m all about the citrus.
P-Phobias/Fears: public speaking, stepping in dog doo without shoes or socks on.
Q-Favorite Quote: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Ben Franklin. Seems very applicable these days to a certain leader…
R-Reasons to smile: Inter-semester break
S-Season: Fall, because that’s when it starts cooling off around here after the heat furnace summers.
T-Tag Three: Barbara, Amy, Bekka
U-Unknown Fact About Me: I wear one contact lens
V – This thing was missing “V” when I got it. Last time it was vegetable you hate, so this time I’ll do vegetable you love: okra
W-Worst Habit: Staying up too late
X-X-rays or Ultrasounds? Wha? I don’t think I’ve ever had any procedure that involves ultrasound, so I’ll go with X-ray by default.
Y-Your Favorite Foods: Enchiladas, burritos, shrimp, scallops. Scallop burrito anyone?
Z-Zodiac: Aries

Playing Favorites

A while back, painter girl tagged me for this meme. I've taken a long time to do it because asking me what my favorite movie or song is is asking me a question that I don't feel I can answer. There are too many good ones of both to have a favorite. And the favorites change from time to time. So, the favorites presented here are kind of a snapshot - my favorites right now. They could be different next month (is that enough of a hedge for ya?). Sometimes it's important to just make a decision, so that's what I've done here.

Favorite movie - The Big Lebowski
The first time I saw this movie was in the theater. I remember thinking at the end that I liked it, but I also remember thinking "What the hell was that?" I've found though that sometimes comedies take a little bit of time to grow on me, and this one has grown like a fungus upon my toenails. It's just so damn weird, but it makes me laugh like few movies can.

Favorite guilty pleasure movie - Austin Powers
The first time I saw this movie I hated it. All I could see was the stupidity and not the humor. And it is stupid, that's why I'm putting it in the guilty pleasure category. But each time I saw it it just kept getting funnier and funnier to me.

Favorite book - A Confederacy of Dunces
I think this book is pretty popular with literary hipsters, but I had never heard of it until a guy I know was selected to direct a movie adaptation of this book. So I read it because I wanted to see what he would be doing, and I really ended up loving it. It's got such strange characters, but they are drawn so vividly. It has such a strong sense of place too. It's set in New Orleans, and it really couldn't have been set anywhere else. The peculiarity of the story is also enhanced by the fact that the book was published 11 years after the author committed suicide. I'm actually kind of glad that the movie adaptation fell apart, because doing justice to the book would be extremely difficult if not impossible. More info here.

Favorite guilty pleasure book - Naked Pictures of My Ex-Girlfriends
Supposedly the premise of this book is that it is a bunch of pictures that the author took of his girlfriends from 1970-1980, along with little stories that he wrote to go with each of the pictures. A lot of people apparently got bent out of shape when it came to light that the pictures were taken more recently, that some of the women were models, and he made all or some of these stories up. I don't care, it's got pictures of naked women, what's not to like?

Favorite song - White Room by Cream
I love the guitar sound, the drum sound, the falsetto vocal on the chorus, the tympani, and the wah wah pedal. What else can I say?

Favorite guilty pleasure song - F*** The Pain Away by Peaches
Hey, I’m not proud of it, that’s why it’s a guilty pleasure, no? I think it’s funny. The first time I ever heard it was in the movie Lost In Translation. It’s the second track here. Obviously not baby, child, or work safe!

I can't tag anyone else for this thing, not after I took 2 months to answer it!

The A to Z of JC

I have heard a lot of talk about “black ice” on the roadways here over the last few days. Um, I think it prefers to be called “African-American ice”. I really thought we had come further on this, people.

I have been tagged by the lovely and talented Chickytava to present the following A to Z list:

A- available or single? Chronically.
B- best friend? Probably Mary at work. I tell her everything.
C- cake or pie? I'm not going to kick either one out of bed, but if I can only choose one I choose cake. Icing is the shiznet.
D- drink of choice? Water, coffee, milk, beer, generally in that order. I’m all about the basics. And I do think water is a choice, I know someone who never drinks water.
E- essential item I use every day: Deodorant. Thank Jebus.
F- favorite color? For some reason I don’t have a strong preference. But probably blue.
G- gummy bears or gummy worms? Bears. You can’t stick gummi worms to your shirt. At least not easily. When I was a kid I had two cousins who got gummi rats one time when we were on a road trip. The rats were life-sized, one was white and one was black (that’s OK in this context), and they were really gross.

If you lick the back of a Gummi bear, it will stick to your clothing. It will stick real hard.

Do any of you remember that Gummi bears cartoon? I never watched it, but I'm willing to bet that it sucked.

H- hometown? Richardson, Texas
I - indulgence? Yes, please. Fancy coffee.
J- january or february? January because you get more time off from work.
K- kids and names: No kids and I haven’t given a second thought to what I would name a kid. I need to concentrate on getting a woman to let me see her naked first I think…
L- life is incomplete without? Something to read. I read all the time, be it magazines, blogs, cereal boxes, newspaper articles, what have you.
M- marriage date: Not applicable!
N- number of siblings: One younger sister. She is four and a half years younger than me myself.
O- oranges or apples? Oranges. I’m currently on a ginormous Clementine kick.
P- phobias or fears? public speaking
Q- favorite quote? "Eat every meal as if it were your last." - Author unknown
R- reasons to smile? I didn’t have to use any leave for missing work all day yesterday because they closed the building.
S- season? Fall. I guess because it’s cool outside and you usually don’t have the thunderstorms you get in the spring.
T- tag: painter girl
U- unknown fact about me: I like to read. Oh wait, I already said that. Um, unknown? When I was 14 I was in a pie eating contest. I didn’t win. This was way before eating contests became so popular.
V- vegetable you don't like: This one took me a while to think of. Brussels sprouts.
W- worst habit: Staying up too late.
Y- your favorite food? I like all kinds of stuff, but Mexican food is probably my favorite. I love tortillas, cheese, tamales, and blah and blah and blah. Something about the way these things blend together is just so right.
Z- zodiac? Aries.

If you see any of these people today, wish them a happy birthday:

• Kevin Costner
• Takeshi Kitano
• Jonathan Davis
• Alison Arngrim (come on, I know you all used to hate on Nellie Oleson)
• Chun Doo Hwan
• Jesse L. Martin
• Sharon Mitchell (I just liked the name of the first movie credit listed)

I've Been Tagged

Tish tagged me to answer these blog questions:

1) Are you happy/satisfied with your blog’s content and look? Content – Not really, I think it’s been kind of boring lately and it’s never been very focused. I’m OK with the look.

2) Does your family know about your blog? No. I didn’t want to have to worry about offending anyone.

3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing? I guess the answer is yes since I haven’t told any of my friends that I blog. I think most of my friends aren’t really into blog culture – none of them blog and I don’t think they read any either. There’s also a macho component, it’s not the type of thing that a guy tells his buddies that he does.

4) Did blogging cause positive changes in your thoughts? I think sometimes it has helped my outlook when I vent, I think it’s a good way to release and get rid of negative thoughts. Other times I think it helps to clarify my thoughts if I put them down in writing.

5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or do you love to go and discover more by yourself? I like to search for new blogs to read as well as the old favorites.

6) What does a visitor counter mean to you? Do you like having one on your blog? I’m a statcounter addict, but I think I’m getting better. In the past I’ve been sent into a funk or into a good mood by how many hits my page got. That’s really f’d up. I’ve realized that I care too much about what other people think about me, and that’s something I’m working on changing.

7) Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures? I think I have seen pictures of all of the bloggers that I read.

8) Admit it. Do you think there is any real benefit in blogging? Yes.

9) Do you think that blogger’s society is isolated from the real world or interaction with events? No. Everyone I read blogs about events in their real lives.

10) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing? Criticism annoys the hell out of me 9see my answer to #6). Luckily I haven’t received any criticism on my blog.

11) Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them? I occasionally read some political blogs.

12) Were you shocked by the arrest of some bloggers? I didn’t hear about this. I guess it would depend on what they were arrested for!

13) What do you think will happen to your blog after you die? It will go to Blog Hell.

14) What song do you like to hear? What song would you like to link to on your blog? Too many to list! Actually I would like to post some music here occasionally, but I need some pointers on how to do that.

15) The next “victims”? I tag… nobody!!!

What Do You Meme?

I've been tagged by Kiki to post this list!

3 Things You Wish For (just for you)
1. A job
2. Good health
3. Peace of mind

3 Things You Would Do To/For Yourself If There Was No One To Judge You (or if you had the guts to do it!)
1. I would probably keep my hair a little bit on the shaggy side
2. Get a nose job
3. Butt implants. Just kidding on that one! Despite number 1, I’ve always wanted to shave my head to see what it looks like, but I’m too chicken!

3 Bad Habits You Have
1. I’m not very punctual
2. I tend to interrupt people when they’re talking. I do it because if I don’t I will forget what I’m going to say, but that’s a crappy reason.
3. I worry too much

3 Insecurities You Feel
1. My looks
2. That people don’t like me
3. That people think I don’t know what I’m talking about

3 Talents/Skills You Wish You Had
1. Ability to paint
2. Ability to be more assertive
3. Ability to make a living doing something artistic

3 Things That You Would Do If You Had More Time
1. Learn to paint!
2. Travel more
3. Read more

3 Things That Bring You Peace/Relaxation
1. Going for a walk
2. Being in the woods
3. Not having a schedule

3 Things That Spark Your Creativity
1. Visiting an art museum
2. Seeing a really good movie
3. Nature

I'm adding a bonus section that I promised to do a long time ago (November, I think). I guess that speaks volumes about my self-esteem that it took me 4 months to think of 7 things that I can do!

7 Things I Can Do
1. Change a car battery
2. Tune a guitar
3. Find my way around
4. Run 5 miles without stopping
5. Pass the Jeopardy test (3 times and counting…)
6. Do well on the GRE
7. Hang a ceiling fan (man, I’m reaching here!)

I tag no one!

Four Things

I was tagged by Anne to do this list, and I actually didn't mind because I haven't felt very inspired about blogging lately.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
K Mart cashier (I got paid in cash and had to wear a tie to work)
Domino’s Pizza Delivery Driver (The store got robbed once while I was on a delivery)
Custodian at Disney World
Manufacturing engineer

Four movies you could watch over and over (I could have probably picked 40!):
The Big Lebowski
Boogie Nights
This Is Spinal Tap
The original Star Wars

Four places you’ve lived:
Atlanta, GA
Richardson, TX
Houston, TX
McKinney, TX

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Lost
Scrubs
The Office
Arrested Development

Four places you’ve been on vacation:
Costa Rica
Santa Fe
Seattle
Chicago

Four websites you visit daily:
CNN
Yahoo Mail
DVD File
The blogs I link to

Four of your favorite foods:
Pork chops
Shrimp
Red curry with chicken
Fried okra

Four places you’d rather be:
Hiking in the mountains somewhere
Lounging on a beach with a drink
Earning a decent paycheck
Oklahoma City ;)

Four albums you can’t live without:
Lost In Space – Aimee Mann
Midnight Vultures - Beck
The Mollusk – Ween
Bone Machine – Tom Waits

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to do this list, knock yourself out!