Question Time

For a bit of fun, fellow blogger Alisia tagged me for a meme. Here are the guidelines:

1. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.

2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.


Here we go...

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT OBSESSION? Finishing the second draft of my novel. At this moment, it feels like an impossible feat!

GOOD COFFEE PLACE? My locals - Coffee Society or Orchard Valley Coffee, both of which are funky. They also have good coffee and a great environment to relax with friends, or buckle down to write.

DO YOU NAP A LOT? Never. I can't nap and never could. The few times I tried, I walked around like a zombie the rest of the evening, which felt like a waste. (Power napping baffles me. Two of my friends are expert powernappers, but I can't fall asleep before the fifteen minutes is up!)

WHAT'S FOR DINNER? Probably hotdogs...I'm taking husband to a baseball game for his birthday: Red Sox vs. A's. (Go Sox!)

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? Beautiful new clothes and a pair of sassy red espadrilles with my birthday money.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My iTunes mix. Current song: "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WEATHER? The warming days of late spring and early fall and warm and breezy summer evenings.

WHAT'S ON YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE? A lamp, writing notebook and pen (for those pesky middle-of-the-night ideas), and whatever I'm reading at the moment.

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT? It's difficult to pick one since I like to see new places when I travel, but I'd have to go with London. However, a white sandy beach and Prague tie for a close second.

NAME THE THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT. My family, books, chapstick, and coffee.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE IN YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW? My first published novel.

IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD FOR THE NEXT HOUR, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Tea at The Orangery in Kensington (sans jetlag).

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BECOME AS A CHILD? A writer and a teacher.

WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg. (I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Saturday and fell in love with it.)

WHAT DO YOU FEAR THE MOST? Losing those I love, and spiders.

FAVORITE BOOKS YOU'VE READ THIS YEAR? Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, Disraeli Avenue by Caroline Smailes, and Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte.

MOVIES THAT MAKE YOU CRY? The Notebook gets me every time, but I finally caught P.S. I Love You this weekend, and I'm glad husband was the only witness, because I was an embarrassing wreck. Good stuff.

I won't tag anyone, but feel free to continue this meme if you're interested.

The S List

I love memes and this one is from JJ at Tea Stains . If you want to do it, leave me a comment saying so, and I'll give you a letter. JJ has given me the letter S and the meme is my list of ten things I love beginning with S.

Sense and Sensibility - one of my top three Jane Austen novels. The other two are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.

Sisters - I have three awesome younger sisters, but I have to shout out to the youngest whose name starts with an S, Stephanie.

Shepherds - As in toy Australian Shepherds, as in Drewser.

Santa and stockings and snow - I love all things Christmas.

Stephenie Meyer - I love her fun romantic vampires. And her website, which has some great playlists.

Semi-sweet chocolate - no Angie favorites list is complete without a mention of chocolate, and as far as I'm concerned, the darker the better.

Starbucks - I heart coffee, but skinny lattes are my weakness.

Strawberries - Is any explanation needed for this most wonderful fruit?

San Francisco - I love living in the bay area and visiting this beautiful city regularly, but my favorite section is North Beach, otherwise known as Little Italy.

SW1 - I couldn't figure out how to squeeze London in to this tops list, but never fear, I found a way via this prestigious postcode.

Shakespeare - Anyone writing in the English language owes a lot to the great grandad of English lit. To be [a writer] or not to be? That is the question.

Silver - I've never been a gold girl, but I love all things silver, including my jewelry, my car, and my first teddybear, who bears the name.

Strongbow - I discovered dry English cider while living in London, and I've never turned back.

Singing, swimming, surprises, and sassy red nail polish - These round out the list of my favorite things starting with S.

Okay, so I have a bit over ten, but it was too fun...

Signing off for 2008. Have a safe and Happy New Year all!

Nicked meme about me

This meme has been bouncing around blogland, and while I haven't been tagged (sob!), I decided to do it anyway since I've enjoyed reading everyone's answers.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had just finished my junior year of high school and was preparing for my last year. Husband--then Boyfriend--and I broke up for the second time(!) as he prepared to leave for university.

Five things on your to-do list for today:
Write 100 words
Type more pages of chapter six
Read student submissions for writing course
Pick up friends at 5pm
Go to the Giants game (Yay!)

What are three of your bad habits?
Spending too much time online
Procrastination (same as above?)
Picking at my cuticles

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would write full-time, but I would be doing it in a room of my own in our gorgeous Victorian house, which would have a library with one of those wheelie ladders (obv). I'd be driving my mini, and Husband would have his garden. I'd also buy my mom's house for her and help the in-laws pay off their mortgages.
Oh, and I'd buy an apartment in central London and visit as much as possible. (Did you really think I'd forget that?)

What are some snacks you enjoy?
Tortilla chips and salsa
Chocolate chip cookies
Cheese

What were the last five books you read?
In Search of Adam by Caroline Smailes
Triumph of Hope by Ruth Elias
The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes
Any Way You Want Me by Lucy Diamond
Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson

What are five jobs you have had?
Assistant Editor
Editorial and Marketing Assistant
Office Assistant
Barista
Resident Assistant

Five places that you have lived?
Bend, OR
Corvallis, OR
London, UK
Boston, MA
San Jose/Campbell, CA


Right then, hope I didn't bore anyone to tears. I better finish that list because in one hour, we're off to see the Giants play the Cubs. Hurrah! I'll try to take some pictures because we're behind home plate--albeit very high above home plate--and we'll have a perfect view of the bay. I love Giants' Stadium.

In a word...or six

Alix tagged me for a six word memoir.

In six words I am:

Intuitive
Obsessive
Loving
Sarcastic
Determined
Fretful

This one has made the rounds, so I won't tag anyone, but if you fancy it, give it a go.

Six quirky things meme

JJ of Tea Stains has tagged me with the six quirky things meme. I have been feeling a bit dry--of inspiration, it's quite soggy outside--so hopefully this will get me back into the spirit.

Rules:
Link to the person that tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. I cannot watch scary movies. Once in high school I stupidly went along with friends to watch Scream, and I was so freaked out I drove through every stop sign on my way home and couldn't sleep for weeks because I kept hearing noises in the dark. If I even see a hint of The Silence of the Lambs on TV, I make husband change the channel or I leave the room.

2. I am also scared of the dark. (How old am I?) Okay, it's not the dark, per se, that scares me, but what might be hiding in the dark. I have an overactive imagination--which might be handy for writing--but not when I'm alone at night.

3. I am cold all the time. Regardless of whether I'm in Bend and it's below freezing, or I'm here and it's 50 degrees, I constantly shiver. However. Because my thyroid has been a bit wonky lately, I began taking my daily temperature to establish my average. It's 97.4, which is 1.2 degrees below average! No one is ever allowed to tease me for being cold again. (Right?)

4. As JJ mentioned in her blog a few days ago, I am also addicted to PG Tips tea. It's not readily available in the stores here, so I hoard boxes whenever I find them. I have been known to panic when using the last teabag, and I have also ridiculously overpaid in order to get my fix.

5. I trained Drew to give me hugs. I give him treats so he thinks it's a trick just so I can get lots of sweet doggy hugs throughout the day.

6. My most favoritist color in the whole world is blue (followed very closely by yellow, which was my obsession in college and slightly overtook blue for a few years). My closet is full of blues (and yellows), and I didn't like pink until a few years ago. I wasn't very girly growing up, unless you count the fear of spiders and scary movies.

Six tags...Caroline, Hullaballoo, Jen, Alix, Rebecca, Cathy...only if you want to, but feel free to ignore.

A - N - G - I - E

Words written today: 808

Jen over at Spiral Skies did this meme and offered it to anyone who wanted to do it. I don't have much to blog about today and it looks fun, so here it goes.

“List one fact, word or tidbit that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your first or middle name. You can theme it to your blog or make it general. Then tag one person for each letter of your name.”

A = Adventure. I love good adventures and need to have them in my life to stay sane. Here are some of the adventures in my life to date: singing in Carnegie Hall with my high school choir; studying abroad and traveling Europe; moving four times in one year; finishing a marathon; skydiving (two weeks later!); and quitting my job to pursue my dream of writing full-time.

N = Novel. One of the major goals of my life has always been to publish a novel. Over the last two years I've separated that goal into two: finishing a novel, and then publishing it. I've always dreamt of being a novelist because I loved books from the time my mom first read them to me at bedtime.

G = Green Eyes. I don't know why, but I have always been a sucker for green eyes, maybe because I am blessed with boring garden variety brown eyes. Husband has the loveliest light sage green eyes, and he knows how to use them.

I = Intuitive. My intuition has always been one of my strongest senses, which comes in handy for writing, but in personal life decisions I have a hard time deciphering between my intuition and my mind.

E = England. I heart England. Some might call me an Anglophile. Ever since I read the Chronicles of Narnia as a little girl I dreamt of England. I lived in London for a study abroad program my senior year of college and it lived up to all my expectations, and I have been trying to get back ever since.

So, I’m supposed to tag five people, but Jen didn’t, so I don’t have to either. Mwah ha ha. If you want to do it, give it a go.

Eight things meme...

Okay, I’ve been tagged by hellojed. These are the rules:

THE RULES
1. All right, here are the rules.
2. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
3. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
4. People who are tagged write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
5. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

One. I absolutely cannot stand brocolli. I will actually claim to be allergic to it when in a restaurant because it guarantees it won't arrive with my food; this probably sounds bad, but I figure I can claim an allergy since it literally makes me puke every time I eat it. (When I was in preschool I had a very traumatic incident where my teacher forced me to eat brocolli even though I told her it makes me throw up, and when I threw up on her, I got punished.)

Two. As you may have noticed on this blog, I adore my dog Drew, but this has been a shock to my family and friends because I was always the girl who did not like dogs growing up, which of course meant that dogs always followed me around. I couldn't stand it (still can't really) when dogs jump up on you, drool or lick you, etc. I've since discovered that like children, I really only dislike badly behaved dogs (and truthfully I still don't like yappers or dogs with drooling problems).

Three. I always wanted to be a writer, even though I only admitted it to family and the very closest of friends. Ever since I discovered that you could be a writer, I've wanted to be one. I used to write a series of children's books for my sisters about a group called the 'Sunshine Gang' (very original, I know) and I would illustrate them and give them as gifts. Once I graduated high school, I managed to supress my desire to be a writer and attempted to find a more useful career, but I was only able to supress the desire for a few years and I ended up majoring in English and minoring in writing.

Four. I grew up in central Oregon where it rains very infrequently, but I moved to western Oregon for college where it rains about 9-10 months of the year. I thought it would be fine because I like rain and thunderstorms, but it basically 'mists' rain all day every day and even an umbrella is useless. I decided I don't like living in the rain, yet...

Five. I want to live in London more than any other place in the world. I love the architecture, the history, the theater, the museums, and the literature that originated from there. I lived there for a study abroad term in college and I've had the itch to move back ever since.

Six. Blue is my absolute favorite color, but I have wavered for yellow (and once for pink - shh don't tell!).

Seven. I love red wine and would drink a glass every night, but it gives me migraines...of course that doesn't stop me from trying! (Same goes for diet soda or anything made with fake sugar....)

Eight. I am an absolute control freak. I used to be in denail, but my friends never stopped pointing out the fact, so I now freely and proudly admit it. I am also a clean freak and found that one of my greatest difficulties when I started writing at home was resisting the urge to clean the house constantly so it always stays spotless.

Okay, I think most people have been tagged for this meme, but I don't recall Helen doing it...