Eccentric Flower:199901/survey says

fifteen january (later)

survey says

It is wet and slushy.

It snowed all last night; this morning, for the third time following a snowfall, the rain began. It is still raining. The rain is melting the snow into slush, but packed drifts of snow are blocking all the drains, so all the low places - i.e. anything shoveled out - are filling with icy water.

A funny thing about icy slushy water - it appears to have a top surface sometimes that you can step on, due to the floating slush. I stepped in several places that I thought were solid and ended up in water up to my ankles. Could have been worse. Last winter I stepped in one such trap up to my calves.

When I talk about weather, it may sound like I'm complaining, but actually I'm not. It's more in the tone of field observations. Bad weather is interesting, and I'm usually okay with it, as long as I'm not driving in it. Then it becomes dangerous.

So, despite my coat and hair being soaked, I was having an easygoing walk home - until I slipped and fell on my derriere into freezing water. Now if I want to go out of the house again tonight I will have to find some other clothes.

Anyway, I'm certainly not going to talk about history again yet, even though I've gotten all sorts of interesting mail today, because I need something light and fluffy to take my mind off what's transpiring outside my window.

So I'm going to steal from Rob. Today he put up his and Julie's answers to a little survey that's apparently been going around. I have been spared the pain of finding the original in my mailbox, and would normally scorn such frippery, but for some reason it seems exactly the kind of Wonder-Bread thing to do today. Maybe my brain is melting.

More on history tomorrow, plus why I don't Hunt, and something about humans not having enough fun.

- - -

Nicknames?

I get called "that plant-lady" a lot on MUCKs. Oh, did you mean that other person who shares my head? His name is short enough that no one really can do much to it. Expletives don't count, right?

Hometown?

Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Croutons or bacon bits?

Um, depends on the quality. I'll eat bad croutons (i.e. from a box) sometimes, but I will never eat those artificial pink bacon bits, never. If they're both real, I'll have both, thanks.

Favorite salad dressing?

Hidden Valley Ranch, and no substitutes, please. The only thing better is the pungent dressing Piccadilly Cafeterias put on their Italian salads, but you can't get those here.

Do you drink?

Me? Drink? Um ... yes.

Shampoo or conditioner?

Conditioner's a rip-off. The secret ingredient in conditioner is grease - fats and oils. Why would I use shampoo to take grease out of my hair, then add more right back in?

Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

Every chance I get. I prefer swimming in the dark too; fortunately these two activities go hand-in-hand.

Do you make fun of people?

Way too much; it's very bad manners.

Favorite color?

Cobalt blue.

Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

Not unless you count running a few stop signs.

One pillow or two?

Two, but I generally contrive to shove one off the bed while I'm asleep.

Pets?

None of my own, but I've officially been given joint ownership of Nonelvis' two cats.

Favorite type of music?

Anything that's not Bela Bartok, Philip Glass, Brian Eno, or Garth Brooks.

Hobbies?

I write. A lot. A whole lot. You decide which parts are hobbies and which are my life's work. Careful. Don't guess wrong or you may offend me.

Oh, yes, I also play too many computer games.

Dream car?

Eh. I guess I'd like one of those Toyota Prius hybrids that they're not selling in the US yet. Anything that runs well for ten years with minimal maintenance and never falls below 30 mpg in its lifetime. I don't buy cars for looks or speed. My current car comes pretty close.

Type of car you drive now?

A Toyota Tercel. One of the last of its kind.

Words or phrases you overuse?

I start written sentences with "And" or "So" too much, as if I'm picking up a left-off conversation. Nonelvis removes about a zillion of these whenever she has occasion to edit my writing.

Toothpaste?

Tom's of Maine, cinnamon or peppermint, preferably with baking soda.

Piercing or tattoos?

Heh. Not yet. The piercing is more likely; I keep toying with getting my ears pierced. Once I actually made it all the way into the store before getting cold feet.

On-line Crush?

Dozens. Male or female? Hmm. On second thought I'll keep mum; several of them read this regularly.

Current boyfriend/girlfriend?

I am affianced, thankyouverymuch ... which in no way affects the answer to the previous question.

Most romantic thing that ever happened to you?

Um, I tend to think even the smallest things are romantic, so it's really hard for me to pick one out.

How do you characterize yourself (a hopeless romantic or non-romantic)?

A romantic who covers it with a nasty bulletproof exterior finish.

Do you get along with your parents?

I get along beautifully with my mother and haven't spoken to my father in nearly five years. You may detect a slight imbalance there.

Favorite town to chill in?

I'm with Rob on this one - ha, ha, very funny. Actually, I absolutely adore Boston, even if "chill" is rather too literal at the moment.

Favorite Ice Cream?

Aside from the occasional chocolate malt, I don't eat much ice cream. I have allegiance to a place, not a flavor: Toscanini's, a local joint. I'll gladly eat any flavor they've got.

Favorite drink?

Coffee.

Adidas, Nike or Reebok?

None of the above if I could possibly help it. Unfortunately, I have to answer Nike - they're the only people that made non-hideous walking shoes in my size I could afford.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne?

On me or on other people? I like patchouli on everyone else, and I occasionally wear something called Earl Grey Tea, which mostly smells like bergamot (orange). But in general I like people, including myself, better without extra odors.

Favorite song at the moment?

At the moment ... "Circles" by Soul Coughing. That will change in the next ten minutes.

Favorite movie?

Probably Matilda. That changes fairly often, too.

Favorite TV show?

None that's currently on the air.

Favorite novel?

Oh, good lord. I have a roomful of bookcases and you want me to pick a favorite?

Um ... I read Dorothy Sayers and Robin McKinley and Dana Stabenow and Tom Robbins over and over and over; when I come to the end of the books, I start again. Connie Willis and Pat Murphy can do little wrong. The Princess Bride is a wonderful book that became a wonderful movie - very rare! - and Neal Stephenson wrote three perfect novels in a row, dense provocative beasts all, which is exceedingly hard to do. There. That should hold you.

Favorite website?

I bet you thought I'd say this one, but actually, Tasty Bits From the Technology Front is my all-time favorite.

Favorite subject in school?

Literature, although it didn't seem like it at the time. I resisted the canon, you might say. I used to turn in papers with one sentence: "This was written as entertainment, and it would be pointless to analyze it." My teacher, bless her soul, would then hand it back to me ungraded and I'd write the real paper and generally turn in an A or B essay.

Least favorite subject?

Any mathematics higher than geometry. No, wait - there was a Civics class they made you take a semester of. I almost became a student protester in high school because of that class. It wasn't history or citizenship, it was whitewash and how to kiss corporate-industrial butt.

Favorite alcoholic drink?

Hard cider. Irish coffee is a close second.

Favorite chick drink?

I fancy an occasional margarita on the rocks. Lots of salt, please. Is that a chick drink?

Favorite Sport to watch?

Lumberjack sports on ESPN2. Nothing like watching a man slice inch wide disks of log in about a second per disk with absolute grace and a turbocharged, oversized chain saw. Gets me hot.

Most recent humiliating moment?

Making a glaring logical error in front of several thousand readers over at mouth organ.

Loudest person you know?

My mother, these days. I dunno what's gotten into her.

Craziest person or silliest you know?

Everyone I know is crazy. I'm probably the silliest person I know. Except maybe Kymm.

Favorite holiday?

Hallowe'en.

What do you look for in a mate/lover?

Someone who can stand the way I shift between physically lascivious and absolutely solitary without warning.

The worst thing that has happened to you in the past couple months?

No major disasters in a while, thank heavens.

Say one nice thing about the person who sent this to you and be sure to send it back to them.

He's a lot of fun to read. He can come read this himself, though.

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