Using only the titles of songs from ONE artist, cleverly answer these questions:

Pick a band/artist: Relient K

1. Are you male or female?
Mood Rings

2. Describe yourself.
More than Useless

3. How do you feel about yourself?
Who I am Hates Who I've Been

4. Describe your ex.
N/A

5. Describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend.
N/A

6. Describe your current location.
High of 75

7. Describe where you want to be.
Up and Up

8. Your best friend is...
The Best Thing

9. Your favorite color is…
Maybe it's Maybeline

10. What's the weather like?
Kids on the Street

11. If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
Wake Up Call

12. What is life to you?
Forward Motion

13. What is the best advice you have to give?
 The Only Thing Worse Than Beating a Dead Horse Is Betting on One

14. If you could change your name, to what would you change it?
Plead the Fifth

Tags: friends, meme, music

X - THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
ULYSSES by James Joyce
X - 1984 by George Orwell
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller 
LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov 
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
X - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
X - THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce 
ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison 
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess 
GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding 
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London 
DAVID COPPERFIELD by Charles Dickens
X - EMMA by Jane Austen
TESS Of The D’URBERVILLES, Thomas Hardy 
THE SCARLET LETTER by Nathaniel Hawthorne 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte 
BELOVED by Toni Morrison 
ANNA KAREINA by Leo Tolstoy
THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
HERZOG by Saul Bellow 
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame
U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence 
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins
THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe
TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
THE MAGUS by John Fowles
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving 
DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes
TOM JONES by Henry Fielding
WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy
MOBY-DICK by Herman Melville
MADAME BOVARY by Gustave Flaubert
WINNIE THE POOH by A(lan) A(lexander) Milne
GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Feodor Dostoevsky
TRISTAM SHANDY by Laurence Sterne
X - LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa M. Alcott
VANITY FAIR by William Makepeace Thackeray
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME by Marcel Proust
THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
GRAVITY’S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon
X - THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin (1851-1904)
DUNE by Frank Herbert
A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute
X - ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll
CLARISSA by Samuel Richardson
X - THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY by Henry James
X - OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck
ALL THE KING’S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin 
CHARLOTE’S WEB by E. B. White 
ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe 
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Feodor Dostoevsky
THE STAND by Stephen King
REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier
I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens
ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
AUSTERLITZ by W. G. Sebald
THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka
WISE BLOOD by Flannery O’Connor
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley

Tags: books, meme

Original Entry

1. What is your occupation? Retail slave
2. What color is your underwear? ...I don’t recall. I can’t say it’s that important to me.
3. What are you listening to right now? My feet tapping to Bob Cratchet and Tiny Tim’s song from Muppet’s Christmas Carol.
4. What was the last thing you ate? Poptarts—brown sugar cinnamon!
5. Do you wish on stars? No, but sometimes they remind me to pray.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? An uninteresting but useful one—like one of the strange blues that can be used for almost anything.
7. How is the weather right now? Calm. Brisk. Not bad, really.
8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Momma.
9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Seeing as I dredged this up from my own archives to revisit it, I tolerate the person with relative ease…at times.
10. How old are you today? 23 and summat.
11. Favorite drink? The wet kind. Arguably water, tea or Diet Pepsi.
12. Favorite sport to watch? Live? Baseball and hockey. On TV? Football.
13. Have you ever dyed your hair? Pass thanks.

14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Spectacles, thank you very much.
15. Pets? I share Gracie.
16. Favorite month? November, and I cannot imagine why.
17. Favorite food? Popcorn. I guess. Steak? Potatoes…crap. The tasty kind.
18. What was the last movie you watched? Lessee…last night I started out with Jurassic Park, shifted over to Spiderwick Chronicles, leapt to Stepford Wives and kind of sashayed over to Bewitched before ending with…Arsenic and Old Lace.
19. Favorite day of the year? One spent with friends and family.
20. What do you do to vent anger? Scream, punch things, throw things…throw tantrums, basically. Sometimes I hide…but I’m not sure that counts as “venting” per se.
22. Hugs or kisses? I loves me some bearhugs...I’ll have to get back to you on the kisses later on in life.
23. Cherry or Blueberry? Depends on the context. Who would want a blueberry on top of a Sundae? Wait…hmmm….
24. Do you want your friends to email you back? Nope. THIS. IS. LIVEJOURNAL!!!
26. Who is most likely to respond? Someone who is bored.
27. Who is least likely to respond? Someone who is sick of memes.
28. When is the last time you cried? I don’t recall.
29. What is on the floor of your closet? Technically I don’t really have a closet that is mine, unless you include the one in which I am currently sitting…then it would be Jamie’s trunk, wall-paint, and the chair I’m in.
30. Who is/are the friends you have had the longest? Heather, hands down, having known her since, what…ninth grade? Seriously, how long ago was that?!
31. What did you do last night? Well, I can tell you that I didn’t sleep at all. I finished painting.
32. Favorite smells? Fresh cut grass, bleach, new carpet, rain on the wind, fire smoke during a brisk or cold day/night.
33. What inspires you? Other people’s brilliance, including Miyazaki, Tolkien, Lewis, Gaiman, and so on. Settings sometimes as well.
34. What are you afraid of? Failure of any kind.
35. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain. Marla burgers. With cheesey potatoes.
36. Favorite car? Mike the Jeep.
37. Favorite dog breed? The fuzzy kind.
38. Number of keys on your key ring? One.
39. How many years at your current job? Just over one, and I’m still waiting for that raise...
40. Favorite day of the week? No blinking idea.
41. How many states have you lived in? Five.
42. How many cities have you lived in/name them. Broken Arrow, OK; DeSoto, TX; Nashua, NH; DuBois, PA; Coudersport, PA; Houghton, NY; Mechanicsburg, PA.

Tags: meme

Write the first five things you notice on your desk. In order, if you can.

1: Laptop
2: The Hobbit
3: Wrist Brace
4: B&N Bag [my current functioning purse, as books don't fit well in the actual one]
5: Jimmy & Balthazar

Tags: meme

Read, fill out by exing the ones you've done and then answer the questions beneath.

( ) Gone on a blind date [No one’s ever offered…not that I’d agree.]
(X) Skipped school [Eehee…does faking sick?]
( ) Watched someone die [And hope never to. I couldn’t even be around when my dog was put down.]
(X) Been to Canada [Niagra and Fort Erie…yay tourism!]
(X) Been to Florida [Visiting. Don’t plan to return.]
(X) Been on a plane [To Florida…and California and Mexico.]
(X) Been lost [In the woods and while driving.]
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country [Aforementioned plane ride.]
(X) Gone to Washington , DC [Several times in fact. Great to visit, no desire to stay.]
(X) Swam in the ocean [On each side of the US, actually.]
(X) Cried yourself to sleep [Not in quite some time, thankfully.]
( ) Played cops and robbers [I feel kind of saddened by this.]
(X) Recently colored with crayons [You know, I love them. I want more! MORE!]
( ) Sang Karaoke […not truly. I sing enough as is.]
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only [I’d feel bad.]
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? [We’re not even going here.]
( ) Made prank phone calls [Sadly, no.]
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose [EW]
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue [Every winter, at least once.]
(X) Danced in the rain [If you could call it dancing…]
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus [When I was small.]
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe [Oh well.]
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone [Several.]
(X ) Blown bubbles […is there something special about this one? Drool bubbles? Soap bubbles?]
(X) Gone ice-skating ... [A birthday party, years and years ago. I recall falling hurt all the more…]
( ) Been skinny dipping
(X) Gone to the movies [Erm, duh.]

1. Any nickname? Lesso, Nugglemuffin, Les'l
2. Mother's name? Miz Marla
3. Favorite drink? Water. Tea [unsugared, hot or cold], Diet Caffiene Free Pepsi.
4. Body Piercing? Two ears, on in each.
5. How much do you love your job? Some days more than others, but not on a hugely regular basis.
6. Favorite vacation spot? Dunno.
7. Eaten just cookies for dinner? Nope. I usually at least have milk too.
8. Ever been on TV? Nope. Oh darn.
9. Ever steal any traffic signs? Nope. No real interest, either.
10. Ever been in a car accident? Spun out once or twice…and when mom and the deer met unhappily in the fog.
11 Can you drive a standard car? I know the basic logistics, but Jamie hasn’t given me the “you pass” thumbs up yet.
12. Favorite pie? Peanut butter? Chocolate and peanut butter? Pumpkin? I’m not very experienced in pie.
13. Favorite number? Two, five, or eight.
14. Favorite movie? Not even going to try. 101 Dalmations. Goonies. The Mummy. Willy Wonka. Surf Ninjas…you get the idea.
15. Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving!
16. Favorite food? Probably popcorn. Or cheesey potatoes. Or Marla tacos. Or…well…again, you get the idea.
17. Favorite brand of body soap? The kind that is cleaning and doesn’t leave you feeling all icky.
18. Favorite toothpaste? I’m a Crest girl....
19. Favorite smell? Freshly mowed lawns. Wood fires midwinter [yes, there is a difference!].
20. How do you relax? I still haven’t quite figured that out. Movies, maybe…but I usually am not relaxed. Sleep? We’ll go with sleep.
21. How do you see yourself in 10 YEARS? Oh, God…save me if I even have an inkling. Probably through eyes that have worsened.

( And the disgusting atrocity that has become my movie collection...or that my movie collection has become... )

Tags: meme, movies, stuff

I am, in fact, thankful for--
--all of my wonderful friends
--my job, though it is irritating
--my family for support and tolerance
--my stuff, warm clothes and socks, etc [shallow sounding, but quite true]
--the fact that BK is coming to visit for Christmas
--food
--my roomie
--simmple fun
--basically every blessing in my life, and even some of the trials.

Yay for being cliche.

Tags: family, friends, joy, life, meme

Tags: friends, meme, wordle

Me in my unkempt glory and Rosie the Riveter singing backup!

Okay, so life. It's been updated, new patches downloadable everyday. It's life 2.0!

Sorry, I'm apparently in a silly mood today. I was up in the kitchen making toast and talking with Jamie [in whispers because her boy was still crashed on the couch] and, I don't recall why, I said gasp. Then I paused, looked at her and said, "Or in the French, le gasp." And we cracked up for the next several minutes...but quietly. Weehoo, simple entertainments.

So, this weekend. I was really uber freaking crazy excited about today until I found out Katy isn't coming. I understand and all, but I'm still thoroughly saddened. It's gonna be great without her, with Greg here, but it won't be as freaking amazing. Also, she won't get popcorn. Greg will, though. Why is today so important? Eagles/Steelers, baby! Poor Gerg, an Eagles fan in the middle of Steeler country. We'll be nice, though, right?

Of course, if the Stillers lose, he'll have the right to gloat for quite some time and will take ample advantage of it. Well, we'll see. I'm still excited. And hungry. Did I mention hungry? I'm hungry...and having flashbacks to Twister--Food. FOOD. SUSTENANCE.

Gee, maybe the three cans of Mt. Dew I had last night are kicking in now. Is that physically possible? I somehow don't think so. But anyway, I was talking about life.

Yesterday [which took three attempts to spell correctly] was an odd but wonderful day. I woke feeling well-rested for the first time in a long time. I took a nice hot shower and had some pretty okay food and jaunted off to work, terrifyingly enough, in a jovial mood. I didn't mind going to work. I almost wanted to go to work! Michael's was freaking bugnuts yesterday--there were seriously tons of people there, and I'm not sure why! The day was beautiful, what with perfectly blue skies and sunshine. Maybe a little brisk, but it was just that lovely pre-fall bite coming into the air. I got to do some stuff outside at work and it was kind of wonderful...but since there were so many customers, I couldn't do much in the way of productive things, so I recovered and wandered about pretending to be productive.

And I painted a trashcan, which was fun.

But then Liz [dept manager and MOD for the evening] let me go home early [much to Sherry's dismay, I'm sure...but we all know what a bundle of joy that girl is]. Instead of going home, I went to Starbucks and enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice mocha thingy [sorry Karla]--hot, because the day was perfect for it. Funny, those things taste more pumpkiny when they're warm. Very tasty. I also tried some of the little scone and cookie things they had and sat there to read for about half an hour or so. Kind of nice, though I wish I had my notebook as well as my book. I kind of felt like writing.

Then I came home, speared a piece of chicken and had chicken-on-a-fork for dinner and watched Scooby Doo on commentary while starting Keri and Frank's baby blanket. It looks blue, but it is periwinkle...I can only hope to get it done in time...oi! But at least by waiting, I got to get the yarn for .99 a skein, not including my employee discount!

In other news, I'm going to be going to Houghton for homecoming. I'll hopefully be leaving Friday and coming back Sunday, but I haven't gotten any word yet from my prospective housing. Not that I doubt I could find some last-minute, but it'd be nice to see Laura, you know? I'm ecstatic to see Mark and Brandon, and even Dr. Leax, if I run into him...reading his book has made me appreciate him all the more. It's odd. I kind of wish I had gotten to know him better and maybe not have been quite so half-assed in his class. Good grief, I miss school. He has a line in his book that reads: Though I have always been eager to learn, I have never been a good student. Up until about, oh, Junior year, that was me to a T. Now I want to learn, but I want to be a good student as well. Once I finish Leax's book, I'm planning on picking up Interworld so I can read it and get it back to its owner and then moving on to Northanger Abby or maybe The Invisible Man...but I'd also like to start rereading my Lit Crit and Grammar and Latin texts. I don't like feeling dumb, and I feel increasingly so each day. I know that I always seem to say "ha I'm smart compared to my coworkers" [more than one of whom does not know the word stealthy], but it's not saying much. I worry that I'm not going to be able to continue thinking on any useful level for long, let alone have an intelligent conversation anymore.

Silly, I know. But that's how I feel.

And yes, I do want to go to grad school, but that will not be happening in the near future. I'd have more luck getting published than finding a grad program at this point, and I'm not having any luck getting published...then again, I admit that, like almost everything else I do, the attempt has really only been halfass. I guess I'm scared to start getting that kind of rejection, especially since my first finished piece is of an uncertain length--neither novella nor short story--and a curious addition to a generally marginalized genre--fantasy. Bah. Maybe I'm just talking myself into a corner again, fighting hope and effort for the consolation of contentment in "just getting along."

Blah. I'm done. I have cold toes, so I'm going to go make more toast and put on socks.

Tags: books, family, football, friends, life, meme, random

 

( It's a little long, but [I think] entertaining. )

Tags: meme, movies, stuff

01. How has LJ changed your life?
It helps me follow some folks that don’t live with me…mainly Karla, because she is one of the few LJ friends I have that really posts a lot. It’s also a fun way to waste time or do some silly writing/posting for the halibut.

02. What do you do before bedtime?
Jammify. Teethbrush. Sometimes read. Usually get distracted for 15 minutes to an hour. Get frustrated with my pillow because it’s not settling right. Stare into the darkness.

03. What are you going to have for dinner tonight?
God only knows. But we are going grocery shopping today.

04. What is the ONE place you want to go before you die if you had the money and the time?
Honestly? I’m not huge in to anywhere, not like “dream vacation”, but other than that, I’m kind of torn. I would love to do London/UK with someone who has been there [ahem Karla ahem], but part of me also wants to do Hawaii. Oddly enough, there is a chance I could go to Hawaii at some point.

05. What scares you?
Heights. Failure. And I’m back to getting scared by the dark again…
And not being able to see.

06. What do you do in your free time?
Sometimes I read. Less frequently I write. Sometimes I watch TV. Sometimes I clean, kitchen, living room, basement, pool. More often than not, I waste it.

07. If you could speak another language (meaning one you currently don't know), what would it be?
Russian. Or Spanish.

08. What personal belonging do you have with you everywhere you go?
Cell phone, wallet and I try to at least have a pen if not a pen and a notebook. I’m also getting back into the habit of carrying my knife.

09. What was your favorite song or musical group when you were young?
How young? I’ve always been a Beach Boys/Monkees fan, but if you go real young, I’ll give you Raffi. I still like his Christmas Album.

10. Are you a risk taker?
Pssht. I wish. I’m a wuss.

11. Is being tagged fun?
Depends on why I’m being tagged.

12. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Still living with Nicole.

13. If you could be anyone for one day, who would you be?
I have no idea. Me, simple and clean?

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A music, food and children-loving crack pot, whom I love.

15. Would you rather be single & rich or married but poor?
Single and rich, but I have my reasons.

16. How many children do you want to have, if any?
None, thanks much. Again, I have my reasons.

17. Is reality objective or subjective?
Objective. Unfortunately, we can only view it through a subjective lens.

18. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
If it’s two people simultaneously, it’s not love. Not “in” love, at least.

19. Would you have 100% safe sex with a stranger for £10,000,000?
I’m not comfortable with the idea.

20. What is your favorite color?
A nice, rich navy blue...or a good, rich, chocolate brown.

Tags: friends, meme