Wednesday, November 26, 2014

100 Facts (or less) About Me

Thanks to a meme sent me by a Facebook friend, I'm supposed to post 5 things about myself.

I started this list LONG ago, it's supposed to be "100 Facts About Me" but I'm stuck at 60 at the moment.

I know, it's a bit of overkill.


1. I trust too easily.

2. I use "awesome" too much.

3. I want to live by the sea.

4. I love too easily, I fall quickly (though as I get older I'm much more wary)

5. I'm crazy about John Prine's music.

6. I'm into herbalism & aromatherapy and I really miss my herb garden.

7. I love lava lamps (have 2, want more)

8. I can be VERY impatient.

9. I'm a techie freak (yes, this is obvious)

10. I HATEHATEHATE being ignored.

11. I'm crazy about kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens... All things green.

12. A friend said that I've never met a stranger... guess he's right!

13. I know all the words to Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sound of Music and Rocky Horror Picture Show

14. I know all the words (in spanish) to Shakira's Waka Waka & Te Dejo Madrid & the words (in german) to Nena's 100 Luft Ballons

15. I used to be a Safety columnist for a local motorcycling magazine.

16. ‎I have been at my day job for 33+ years.

17. I have some of the BEST friends a girl could ever have.

18. I've recently lost some that I THOUGHT were friends (see # 1)

19. I'm a friend forever... you'd have to do something Awful to lose me. (and then I will still probably pine away for the loss. Yep, that's happening NOW)

20. I DON'T sing in the shower, just every where else.

21. I like to color.

22. I wear my heart on my sleeve.

23. I read vampire novels and bondage stories (and vampire bondage? stories) but NO Harlequin (or other pulp) romances.

24. I'm a sexual adventurer (or used to be... this IS an old list)

25. I want to learn how to sing opera.

26. I write haiku

27. I love Harry Potter

28. I believe in Reincarnation.

29. I believe Chocolate is a food group. (and essential)

30. I'm a die-hard Trekkie

31. I love theme park rides.

32. Sometimes, if not careful... I can be a bit of a hermit.

33. I have a permit to carry a weapon.

34. I like Pitbull's music and I think he's sexy.

35. I never met an ethnic cuisine I didn't like... so far.

36. I love Diet Dr. Pepper (guilty pleasure)

37. I'm a fixer and it hurts when I can't.

38. I like Super Hero/comicbook movies

39. I sing at the top of my lungs while driving.

40. I have an ancestor who was convicted of witchcraft in Mass.

41. I'm an eternal optimist (though that's been sorely tortured lately).

42. I believe in the liberal use of Primal Screams.

43. I make my own yogurt, quark, ricotta, sauerkraut and kefir.

44. I'll draw on most anything.

45. I thought 50 Shades Of Grey was lame and the writing juvenile.

46. I liked the Twilight series.

47. I, on occasion, "cuss like a sailor"

48. I wish my parents had made me take music lessons.

49. I have won a contest by singing to a D.J. in public.

50. I have flown a plane.

51. I have flown IN a stunt plane.

52. and I have flown in an Open Cockpit Stunt plane (different occasion).

53. I hate discussing politics.

54. I have voted in every election since I was of age.

55. I have donated gallons and gallons of blood in my lifetime.

56. I once donated a 30+ inch ponytail to Locks of Love

57. I sometimes wish I'd become a psychiatrist/psychologist.

58. I miss teaching.

59. I prefer to be barefoot.

60. I have three tattoos.

61.



#100factsaboutme

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I've fallen back into the genealogy pit-of-hell!  Well, it's not hell but it is a sickness from which relief is hard-won.  I've recently received my AncestrybyDNA kits.  Here's a good article about DNA testing and genealogy research:

http://geekdad.com/2013/06/follow-up-ancestrydna-sometimes-gives-surprising-results/




Monday, June 23, 2014

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Friday, May 30, 2014

Pedestrian or pedantic?

So, anyone who does massage knows that a routine (which is never Really routine, btw) relaxation massage is a good time for the therapist to chill, meditate, mellow out.  We're there and on point, mind you, but we are in the zone and relaxed.  Honestly, it is just as relaxing for us as for the client.  Anyway, during two or three different massages I have, in my head, written an entire article tentatively entitled "What your therapist won't tell you (but probably should)." Yes, indeed, I've 'written' the whole damn thing only to walk out of the massage room forgetting every word except the general concept.  I keep trying to get it on paper but... oh well, it's a work in progress.

Somewhat unrelated, though not entirely so, I have decided to return to my blog in earnest and try to post on a daily basis.  As I am finishing my massage article or until I start a new one... you will be enjoying (grinning and bearing?) some pointless yet entertaining drivel.  You're welcome!

Oh, here's one to start!  All together now...



Note: in the vid you hear me yell "it's my theme song".  Just to point out, I do not mean I am "evil" necessarily.  The motorcycle I used to ride was a HD Sportster with an EVOlution engine.  So, my license plate said "EVO WMN"  GET IT?? heh heh
Okay, maybe I AM a little evil.


Thursday, May 29, 2014

What the heck is Spritzing?

So, as this article quips, apparently Spritzing is a 'thing' now.

First, let me say I LOVE technology.  I love the internet and most of the joys it has brought us.  I am truly "Plugged in" and I rarely have the desire to disconnect.  But I'm also an avid reader, a reader for pleasure.  It became pleasurable for me in spits and spurts.  I have always been an easy learner and I retain a lot of what I learn. But, I was one of those "slow readers", one of those children placed in a 'special' reading class.  I can remember it as somewhat embarrassing for me.  Why the education system deems it useful to stigmatize a child as a "slow reader" is subject for another post.  All in all, it didn't do me too much damage.  I graduated from the public school system near the top of my class.

I have a theory that my "slow reading" actually helps me retain information.  I find it necessary to read every single word or I feel like I'm a slacker of sorts.  This is why I have never wanted to take a Speed Reading course, skipping words just feels wrong to me.

Now, there is Spritzing.  Spritz is a speed reading app.  The app works by flashing words or groups of short words in quick succession into one stationary window.  I'm a little intrigued as this is not a skipping of words technique.  But, as I can see using this for articles, text books and other nonfiction reading material it just doesn't appeal to me for leisure reading.  When I read a novel I want to caress each word, ponder it and move on to the next in my own time.  Granted, it takes me a while to finish a good sized book.  But, it IS pleasurable.  I may very well download the app and give it a try but I will continue to read novels in the way I always have... slowly.  Heck, I just recently embraced ebooks and I'm still trying to convince myself that audiobooks are not Cheating!

Check out this article on HuffPost, it sums up my thoughts quite well:

In Defense Of 'Difficult' Books