I have so much written work to finish in the next ten hours I can barely breathe. so I've gone to small hands to get caught up on the wordy quizzes. idiot quizzes are good for short term procrastination, and you know I love the pictures, but it's the wordy ones that really get me.

This or That

1. Do you prefer silence or do you like background sound (music, TV, etc)?
well, I mean, for what? it depends. I usually want music.
if I'm writing intensely, then I don't notice or care, but for working with the kids, or on the house, or something otherwise hands-on, I need music. for doing lay-out, I want music or tv. last time I did the mama calendar, I was watching grace under fire at 5 in the morning and it was awesome. the first calendar I made to the repeated playings of red, hot & blue. the last zine got laid out to the background noise of tapeheads, then eat drink man woman.

2. Bathe/shower in morning or evening?
what I used to do: shower in the morning, bathe in the evening. but in this house, showers are often mysteriously unsatisfactory temperature-wise, so I take baths almost all the time. short, unsatisfying baths, but at least they're free of sudden, radical temperature changes.

3. Sleeping in complete darkness, or with a nightlight on?
darkness, but there is light coming up from the stairwell.

4. Lay out clothes the night before, or just grab what's closest in the morning?
grab what is in on the top of the pile... although for sunday mornings I often do pick something out ahead of time, and for certain things I fret about an outfit for days... weeks...

5. Hang up/fold clothes neatly, or just toss them wherever?
both. well, not wherever, there is a pile. there are a few piles.

6. Work out at a gym, or at home on your own (or do you not bother with exercise)?
work out. that's funny.
I do a lot of walking on my own, and with the kids. sometimes some yoga. at home. I miss having a yoga class.

7. Talk on the phone, or via IM/e-mail?
for something brief and specific, it's email, but I love actually talking to a person that I know. you know? when an old friend asks me via email what I've been up to I feel blank. I want them to hear me. I want to hear them. etc.

8. Are you usually on time, or late?
usually? I think that really, usually, I am on time. but it drives me insane when I'm late.

9. Spendthrift or frugal?
neither, although I'm sure the frguality movement people would call me spendy.

Weekly Wrap-Up #51 - Planes, Trains & Automobiles

1. What's your favorite method of travel? Why?
road trip with someone else driving. because there's so much to see. because it takes forever in a really good way, drawing it out, making it last. I like stumbling into roadside diners and stretching out at rest areas, finding cheesy radio stations late at night. I love cheap motels.

I also love the train. so much to see, and from odd angles, it's fascinating.

2. What's the longest road trip you've ever taken? Where?
from atlanta, georgia to skagway, alaska in the summer of 1992. and back.

3. How many plane trips have you taken in your life?
wow, so many!
two as a young child, one at 12, two at 15, and then approximately 6 a year from ages 16-28...
and only six total since nash was born in 1997.

4. What method of travel do you fear so much or intensely dislike that you avoid it? Why?
well, fear, that would be if I had to do the driving. I'd fear that big time and I do avoid it.
I have taken the bus a LOT of times, mostly all over florida and massachusetts in my teens but sometimes as far as atlanta to fort myers, or sarasota to dc... I'd prefer not take the bus ever again, and certainly hate the thought of having to take it with the kids.

5. Describe the worst travel experience you've ever had.
any of the trips that involved broken cars, or vomiting. I have never been carsick myself, but have done some road time with folks who are... eeech.
how about that short but painful plane ride between blacksburg and charlotte, when every single passenger but me was puking their guts up? and I was getting close. not becuase of airsickness (never), but because of all the rest of them, the small, enclosed space, the smell... yeah, that was really bad.

and last week's:

Weekly Wrap Up

1. What was your favorite book as a child? Why?
I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass repeatedly... also the Little House Books many times, and Harriet the Spy, Treasure Island, everything by E.L . Konigsberg, I was always reading.
but when I was very little, my favorite book was Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book.

2. How often did you read as a child? Describe your preferred reading area or situation.
I was always reading. anywhere, anytime.

3. What children's literature series did you read when you were younger? Why?
The Little House books, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Five Little Peppers, The Great Brain, the Bagthorpe books, all of Tolkein... why, because they're engaging and suspenseful and fun and cool.

4. Do you still read children's literature? Why or why not?
I read to my children every day, but also, I am still a sucker for smart kids getting up to mischief. I have read John Bellairs and JK Rowling in the past few years for my own enjoyment.

5. What children's book would you recommend for a child's library? Why?

the Little Bear books are perfect for very young children, as well as Goodnight Moon, and More, More, More Says the Baby. I can't imagine a kid's house without Hop on Pop. I love If You Give a Pig a Pancake and all the rest of Numeroff's books. every 10 year old should have Harriet the Spy.

3 For Thursday

1. What are your 3 favorite current TV shows?
does current mean that I currently see them sometimes?
zoboomofoo
square pegs (saturdays at midnight)
what not to wear

but if I had access to frank's place, my so called life and/or freaks & geeks, I'd be there. and though I never watch it anymore, I love roseanne, especially that period with tons of sandra bernhardt, and the one when roseanne's father dies, and the dope smoking episode, oh my god, it was brilliant. I just pretend the final season didn't happen.

2. What are your 3 favorite shows from your childhood?
scooby doo
sonny & cher
the rockford files

3. What are your 3 favorite TV/movie/fictional characters?
Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird
Melrose Plant from Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries
eh? I guess favorite characters are not my thing.

4. What are your 3 favorite movies of all time? Movies you can sit and watch over and over.
tapeheads
local hero
metropolitan

5. What are your 3 favorite books?
Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rubyfruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown
Son of the Circus - John Irving