viva los shuttlecocks
Really miss the Brunching Shuttlecocks, purveyors of the very finest humor around. Delighted to find some new projects in the works, such as my cyborg name
Voila!
Mood lifted. Who knew it was that easy? A few good friends, both hither and yon, a silly movie, and there you have it!
ick
A wave of ick has just hit me. Not fair. Objectively, nothing in my life is icky right now - apart from the general ickiness of the world and its weary headlines of floods and earthquakes and trials and corruption. I just don't feel happy. I feel scowly and as though I might possibly cry in the next fifteen minutes. I think it's only fair that if you have to feel bad, you should at least get to know why.
7 things meme
I have been tagged to do this "lists of seven things of various kinds" meme by Rock and Roll Lifestyle, also known as Hooray for Bollywood. So here goes. And in return she said she'd list her five embarrassing crushes, so keep a lookout for that.
7 things I plan to do before I die (I hope these aren't supposed to be grand, important things, because mine really aren't)
1. spend more than a few weeks in a non-English-speaking country
2. perform in an all-girls Beatles cover band, preferably with Rosalie, but the later in life it gets, the less picky I will be about bandmates AND/OR be that woman in a slinky dress who sings with the grand piano in a nightclub. One evening will do.
3. learn to dance - not as in ballroom, because I can do that to an acceptable degree, but the kind of dancing people do in bars or at weddings. I always want to dance but am prevented by fear of looking stupid and stepping on people's toes.
4. walk up to the next gay man who hems and haws and yanks me around and say "Hey, knock it off. Or if you are actually attracted to women, then what are we waiting for?" But I want to do this without resorting to quoting "Johnny, Are You Queer?" no matter how humorous that may be.
5. purchase a car of my very own, not handed down from my parents.
6. get over my fear of and become good at teaching high school students, at least for 90 minutes at a time so that I can deal with them in a museum tour or program.
7. keep my emotional cheesiness in check without stifling my sense of who I am, letting it loose only in appropriate contexts (which also entails learning how to minimize being inappropriate in interpersonal situations, so I guess that's 7B).
7 things I can do
1. name the Canadian provinces and territories
2. have instructive and entertaining conversations with sixth graders
3. hit a pretty wicked backhand - certainly much better than anyone would expect of me
4. speak in public and be calm, concise, and/or amusing as needed. Lots of people can do this, but if you had asked me in eighth grade speech class if I thought I would ever be able to, I would have said no way and burst into tears. So good for me.
5. knit
6. sight-read
7. roll my R's - again, not that noteworthy, but something I used to struggle with that now gives me great joy
7 things I cannot do (apologies to Rock and Roll Lifestyle for borrowing some of these - apparently we have some similar issues)
1. consistently be mindful of the consequences of not keeping secrets
2. parallel park
3. consistently complete sentences without wanting to interrupt myself to give background, context, qualificaton, etc.
4. break my addiction to crappy fashion magazines
5. bother to be as educated as I feel I should about political issues
6. attend to my garden as it deserves - or needs, in order to flourish
7. stop wearing jeans to work
7 things that attract me to another person
1. true warmth, kindness, and consideration for other people (and this really is number one)
2. willingness to be goofy
3. having interests and enthusiasms
4. liking the Simpsons
5. making their home look and feel like themselves
6. good grammar
7. book smarts
7 things that I say most often (oh dear, this is embarrassing)
1. totally
2. like
3. but
4. I was watching this Indian movie where....
5. Yay!
6. This friend of mine....
7. Everything's coming up Milhouse!
7 people I want to do this
1. Melina, because she will be both really funny and insightful with it
2. Tamara, because I want her to be fully aware of her strengths (and not just tollbooth-change-flinging, either)
3. It would be interesting to hear results from this one author whose blog I read, although somehow my hunch is that he'll think it's stupid. (I'm not saying who, because then people who read this will ask me who it is, and I don't want to say becuase then I'll have to explain why. So of course I should just delete all this, but in the spirit of the meme, here it is.)
4. Ummm, I'm out. That's it.
7 things I plan to do before I die (I hope these aren't supposed to be grand, important things, because mine really aren't)
1. spend more than a few weeks in a non-English-speaking country
2. perform in an all-girls Beatles cover band, preferably with Rosalie, but the later in life it gets, the less picky I will be about bandmates AND/OR be that woman in a slinky dress who sings with the grand piano in a nightclub. One evening will do.
3. learn to dance - not as in ballroom, because I can do that to an acceptable degree, but the kind of dancing people do in bars or at weddings. I always want to dance but am prevented by fear of looking stupid and stepping on people's toes.
4. walk up to the next gay man who hems and haws and yanks me around and say "Hey, knock it off. Or if you are actually attracted to women, then what are we waiting for?" But I want to do this without resorting to quoting "Johnny, Are You Queer?" no matter how humorous that may be.
5. purchase a car of my very own, not handed down from my parents.
6. get over my fear of and become good at teaching high school students, at least for 90 minutes at a time so that I can deal with them in a museum tour or program.
7. keep my emotional cheesiness in check without stifling my sense of who I am, letting it loose only in appropriate contexts (which also entails learning how to minimize being inappropriate in interpersonal situations, so I guess that's 7B).
7 things I can do
1. name the Canadian provinces and territories
2. have instructive and entertaining conversations with sixth graders
3. hit a pretty wicked backhand - certainly much better than anyone would expect of me
4. speak in public and be calm, concise, and/or amusing as needed. Lots of people can do this, but if you had asked me in eighth grade speech class if I thought I would ever be able to, I would have said no way and burst into tears. So good for me.
5. knit
6. sight-read
7. roll my R's - again, not that noteworthy, but something I used to struggle with that now gives me great joy
7 things I cannot do (apologies to Rock and Roll Lifestyle for borrowing some of these - apparently we have some similar issues)
1. consistently be mindful of the consequences of not keeping secrets
2. parallel park
3. consistently complete sentences without wanting to interrupt myself to give background, context, qualificaton, etc.
4. break my addiction to crappy fashion magazines
5. bother to be as educated as I feel I should about political issues
6. attend to my garden as it deserves - or needs, in order to flourish
7. stop wearing jeans to work
7 things that attract me to another person
1. true warmth, kindness, and consideration for other people (and this really is number one)
2. willingness to be goofy
3. having interests and enthusiasms
4. liking the Simpsons
5. making their home look and feel like themselves
6. good grammar
7. book smarts
7 things that I say most often (oh dear, this is embarrassing)
1. totally
2. like
3. but
4. I was watching this Indian movie where....
5. Yay!
6. This friend of mine....
7. Everything's coming up Milhouse!
7 people I want to do this
1. Melina, because she will be both really funny and insightful with it
2. Tamara, because I want her to be fully aware of her strengths (and not just tollbooth-change-flinging, either)
3. It would be interesting to hear results from this one author whose blog I read, although somehow my hunch is that he'll think it's stupid. (I'm not saying who, because then people who read this will ask me who it is, and I don't want to say becuase then I'll have to explain why. So of course I should just delete all this, but in the spirit of the meme, here it is.)
4. Ummm, I'm out. That's it.
Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:28 PM
3 comments
3 comments
Dude, I will *totally* come watch you when you sing in that nightclub!! You'll knock 'em dead ?Tamara | 10.18.05 - 8:11 pm | #
By 
, at
November 16, 2005
Okay, you got me thinkin' about this...so here you go:??7 things I plan to do before I die ?1. dance with someone who really knows what he’s doing and *literally* be swept off my feet, looking just like Cyd Charisse ??2. dye my hair red(dish)?3. attend an event where I can wear a fabulously old-fashioned floor-length Ginger Rogers-style dress with lots of feathers or beads on it (and not feel foolishly out of place)?4. visit Thailand?5. own a home with a window seat and a front porch with a hammock?6. see all the movies on AFI’s 100 Greatest American Movies list?7. publish something??7 things I can do?1. estimate things (how long it will to do something, distance, volume, cost, etc.)?2. lead a group discussion (this used to be SO hard for me, and I am glad I’ve mastered it!)?3. paint or color within the lines (and not on the ceiling or the door frame)?4. hook up a/v equipment?5. do all sorts of home improvement projects…electrical, flooring, tiling, putting together furniture from Ikea, etc.?6. impress guys with my obscure sports knowledge?7. make a perfect pot of rice without measuring the rice or the water??7 things I cannot do ?1. give a formal presentation without feeling like a complete sham?2. do anything cool with my hair?3. make up good recipes from random ingredients that I like?4. lie convincingly (like giving people compliments if I don’t really mean it)?5. finish a glass of beer (ick…I hate it)?6. figure out which direction is north (or east, west, or south for that matter)?7. beat my sister at Clue…despite having played about 500 games with her??7 things that attract me to another person?1. brutal honesty – there aren’t enough people in this world who really say what they think instead of being politically correct?2. emotional bravery?3. being able to hold an intelligent conversation that ranges all over the place from one topic to another?4. a really sharp sense of humor?5. people who are passionate about topics I know nothing about?6. creative writing abilities?7. compassion and empathy??7 things that I say most often ?1. Dude! (oh my god, that’s awful, but true)?2. Let’s burn that bridge when we come to it?3. I heard this thing on NPR the other day…?4. Did you watch the game last night??5. esta bien (that’s good)?6. bueno?7. danke schoen?Tamara | 10.18.05 - 10:13 pm | #
By , at
November 16, 2005
You DO say all of those things! I wish I had thought to add the NPR one to mine. ??And you can too do cool things with your hair. Anyway, you have GREAT hair, and it's cool all on its own.??How's that for brutally honest??Beth | 10.19.05 - 7:28 pm | #
By 
Beth Loves Bollywood, at
November 16, 2005
Have cold; will travel.
Being blocked by a cold into my own space, surrounded by a cascade of wadded-up kleenex and cough drop wrappers, has done wonders for my patience with this trip. My resources are all directed at not sneezing on people, so most of the zillion irksome things that I re-discover about my family each time I visit just slid by me, as I don't have the energy to care. I got off the plane completely bedraggled, so no one expected much of me and my mom was happy to cancel our immediate trip to grandma's house (phew). For my first two days of travel I could only say a few sentences without breaking into a coughing fit, so no one minded if I didn't have much to add to a conversation. I'm clearly exhausted, so sleeping in is encouraged. My ears are clogged up too, so I can hear little of whatever nonsense my mom and grandma are babbling on about. Sitting quietly with water bottle in one hand and box of kleenex in the other, smiling politely, and nodding when addressed is about all I can muster. This is the perfect way to visit my family. It was so nice to clamber out of the plane to find my parents waiting for me, ready to take care of me.
The Detroit airport reached a new level of suckiness on Sunday by making us wait in line to board the plane, but then delaying boarding time for 45 minutes but still making us stand in line. I guess you could sit on the floor, but since we were in a single-file line in the middle of the hall, between stantions, there was nothing to lean against. However, it is only fair to inform everyone that the Detroit airport is also the only place other than a grocery store I have ever seen bottles of diet ginger ale. That is my all-time favorite travel beverage! The little magazine stand where I found this also had the circus-wagon boxes of animal crackers. Double numma. That was all I had to eat from 8:15 CST and 4:45 EST on Sunday. But with aforementioned cold, it didn't really matter.
The Detroit airport reached a new level of suckiness on Sunday by making us wait in line to board the plane, but then delaying boarding time for 45 minutes but still making us stand in line. I guess you could sit on the floor, but since we were in a single-file line in the middle of the hall, between stantions, there was nothing to lean against. However, it is only fair to inform everyone that the Detroit airport is also the only place other than a grocery store I have ever seen bottles of diet ginger ale. That is my all-time favorite travel beverage! The little magazine stand where I found this also had the circus-wagon boxes of animal crackers. Double numma. That was all I had to eat from 8:15 CST and 4:45 EST on Sunday. But with aforementioned cold, it didn't really matter.
