Fantasy Rock Album

Thanks to my buddy, briwei for passing on an intriguing meme. For everyone who ever wanted to be in a band and make an album...

- Go to Wikipedia’s “random” page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page’s "random quotations":
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click “explore last seven days”
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it together.

5 - Post your photo to your FB page with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and tag friends you’d like to join in.

Here's my album:
Band: Winners and Sinners
Album: Badly Written Third Act



The photo is from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stocksphotography/3305027150/in/photostream/

The full quote was from Truman Capote: "Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act."

43 Things Quiz

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a Tree Hugging Self-Knowing De-Clutterer

I don't know if I'll read the book, but the quiz was kind of fun. The book sounds intriguing to a compulsive list maker like me though.

Edible Complex Meme

Courtesy of Cobweb's Shadowmanor, but originally from Very Good Taste.

Here’s what to do:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here or at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Herding Kitten’s Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho I LOVE this soup
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - Apple
19. steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar Never on the cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo - I've even made it a number of times
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk - Prefer it to cow's milk, actually
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin - great sushi!
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian - I'll try it, but I suspect this stinky stuff will make me retch
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - Ooops, my red neck roots are showing
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong - Lovely tea
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - the closest I've come is the tasting menu at Mario Batali's Esca in NYC - FABULOUS
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam - What did I say about my roots?
92. Soft shell crab - My mom's favorite food, that rubbed off on me
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I'm curious about a lot of the stuff I haven't tried, and I'll try almost anything once. I guess I have another quest!

Had to come back and update - duh, OF COURSE I've had a hot dog from a street vendor... zillions of times

A little something about meme

I'm carrying this on from Barbie2be.

Maybe I should - go cold turkey on all my consumption vices so I can drop all the weight I've gained back over the past two years.
I love the smell of - a warm chlorinated pool.
People would say that I - am exceptionally impatient.
I don’t understand why - people seem compelled to talk on their cell phones in public constantly for mundane reasons.
I lost - fifty pounds and then gained thirty of it back.
Life is - too short to spend it doing so many pointless and unimportant things.
My past - got me where I am; I'm not proud of some of it. However, some of it taught me valuable lessons, and some of it I'll always cherish.
I get annoyed - with stupid people (and sadly there are a lot of them out there)
My idea of a good time is - spending time with good friends and making each other laugh until tears roll down our faces.
I wish - my chronic pain issues would just be gone one day so I could get on with my life with fresh eyes.
Twins are - scary.
Dust bunnies - are everywhere.
Tomorrow I’m going to - work on my son's computer, do some crafting, exercise, and generally have a very mellow Sunday.
I have low tolerance for - stupid people.
I’m totally terrified of - public speaking.
I wonder why - shopping makes me happy, even though I know that having stuff does not make me happy.
Never in my life have I - ridden a horse.
High school was - a wasted opportunity. I would love to have a "Peggy Sue Got Married" chance to go back and do it all over knowing that none of the petty stuff really mattered.
When I’m nervous - I chew on my cuticles.
One time at a family gathering - I hid out in the bedroom for an hour.
Take my advice: Smile when you really don't feel like it. Sometimes, it helps you feel like it!
Taking a good picture - makes me feel like I've done something creative.
I’m almost always - in some kind of pain.
I’m addicted to - way, way, too many things to list comfortably. It's scary.
I want someone to - take care of me for just a little while. (Stolen from someone else's list, because it really is the perfect sentiment.)

Meme> Things I have done

It's been a while since I did a meme. I like list memes, probably because I'm in love with list making. I think I will start posting more lists. In the meantime, I liked the list over at A Summer's Day.

I've bolded the things that I have done on the list. Considering the mishmash of positives and negatives on the list, I'm not sure how I feel about being able to claim so few.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink


2. Swam with wild dolphins


3. Climbed a mountain


4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive


5. Been inside the Great Pyramid


6. Held a tarantula


7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone


8. Said “I love you” and meant it


9. Hugged a tree


10. Bungee jumped


11. Visited Paris


12. Watched a lightning storm at sea


13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise


14. Seen the Northern Lights


15. Gone to a huge sports game


16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa


17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables


18. Touched an iceberg


19. Slept under the stars


20. Changed a baby’s diaper


21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon


22. Watched a meteor shower


23. Gotten drunk on champagne


24. Given more than you can afford to charity


25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope


26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment


27. Had a food fight


28. Bet on a winning horse


29. Asked out a stranger


30. Had a snowball fight


31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can


32. Held a lamb


33. Seen a total eclipse


34. Ridden a roller coaster


35. Hit a home run


36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking


37. Adopted an accent for an entire day


38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment


39. Had two hard drives for your computer


40. Visited all 50 states


41. Taken care of someone who was drunk


42. Had amazing friends


43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country


44. Watched whales


45. Stolen a sign


46. Backpacked in Europe


47. Taken a road-trip


48. Gone rock climbing


49. Midnight walk on the beach


50. Gone sky diving


51. Visited Ireland


52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love


53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them


54. Visited Japan


55. Milked a cow


56. Alphabetized your CDs


57. Pretended to be a superhero


58. Sung karaoke


59. Lounged around in bed all day


60. Played touch football


61. Gone scuba diving


62. Kissed in the rain


63. Played in the mud


64. Played in the rain


65. Gone to a drive-in theater


66. Visited the Great Wall of China


67. Started a business


68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken


69. Toured ancient sites


70. Taken a martial arts class


71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight


72. Gotten married


73. Been in a movie


74. Crashed a party


75. Gotten divorced


76. Gone without food for 5 days


77. Made cookies from scratch


78. Won first prize in a costume contes


79. Ridden a gondola in Venice


80. Gotten a tattoo


81. Rafted the Snake River


82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”


83. Gotten flowers for no reason


84. Performed on stage


85. Been to Las Vegas


86. Recorded music


87. Eaten shark


88. Kissed on the first date


89. Gone to Thailand


90. Bought a house


91. Been in a combat zone


92. Buried one/both of your parents


93. Been on a cruise ship


94. Spoken more than one language fluently


95. Performed in Rocky Horror


96. Raised children


97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour


98. Passed out cold


99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country


100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over


101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge


102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking


103. Had plastic surgery


104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived


105. Wrote articles for a large publication


106. Lost over 100 pounds


107. Held someone while they were having a flashback


108. Piloted an airplane


109. Touched a stingray


110. Broken someone’s heart


111. Helped an animal give birth


112. Won money on a T.V. game show


113. Broken a bone


114. Gone on an African photo safari


115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears


116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol


117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild


118. Ridden a horse


119. Had major surgery


120. Had a snake as a pet


121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon


122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours


123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states


124. Visited all 7 continents


125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days


126. Eaten kangaroo meat


127. Eaten sushi


128. Had your picture in the newspaper


129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about


130. Gone back to school


131. Parasailed


132. Touched a cockroach


133. Eaten fried green tomatoes


134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey


135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read


136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating


137. Skipped all your school reunions


138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language


139. Been elected to public office


140. Written your own computer language


141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream


142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care


143. Built your own PC from parts


144. Sold your artwork to someone you didn't know.


145. Had a booth at a street fair


146. Dyed your hair


147. Been a DJ


148. Shaved your head


149. Caused a car accident


150. Saved someone’s life

Where did you think you would be now when you were 25?

Continuing a meme from Barbie2be's site: Name five things in your life now that you would not have imagined when you were 25.

Where was my little brain 20 years ago, anyway?

1. When I turned 25, I swore I saw no reason to be married. The following year I started dating my current husband. We just celebrated our 18th anniversary.


2. I never would have imagined that I'd be happily living in NH. I'd just returned to the greater DC area after being exiled (IMO) to Philadelphia for graduate school. I couldn't wait to get back 'home'. There had been so much that I had missed about the area when I was gone. However, after we got married, my husband and I started weighing the benefits of the area against the frustrations. We decided to remake our life in NH. While not without its own frustrations, NH suits us on many important levels.


3. Like Barbie2be, I never imagined that my mom wouldn't be around now. She passed away over ten years ago. I know she's annoyed that she was not able to fully enjoy the show of me parenting a teenager. I think she really wanted to sit back and see my misdeeds revisited back upon myself. (Mom: He's not as bad as I was ... yet)


4. Again, like Barbie2be, I don't think I would have pictured myself as the perpetual student. After I earn my current (second) B.S. degree, I'm thinking of going for a second Masters degree (either in Public Health or Health Care Administration). Neither of which would have occurred to me at the age of 25.


5. TiVo. While the technology is not that huge of a stretch beyond my VCR from 1987, I never envisioned the convenience and addictive nature of being able to 'shop' for TV shows, or 'subscribe' to them before they aired, so that I would have catalog of things to watch when I felt like watching them. Best invention in the last 25 years, IMO.

What's in YOUR life now that you would never have imagined when you were 25 years old?