dance like it hurts. Love like you need money. Work when people are watching

*PERSONAL DETAILS

• Nicknames?
  the only one that I've ever had worth a darn that didn't derive from my name was Gerb--and even that isn't nearly the story it ought to have been
• Where do you live?
  in one room in a condo in a small town that's not quite a suburb of the fourth-(?)-largest city in the most arrogant country in the world
• What's your age?
  same as it was yesterday, plus one day
• Hair color?
  somewhere in the realm of yellowy-tan-brownish
• Eye color?
  blue-greenish
• Height?
  6144 pixels
• Shoe size?
  7.5
• What's your star sign?
  mostly Virgo
• Element?
  
  
  You are carbon. Carbon takes many forms. You see pure carbon as the toner in your printer (carbon black), as diamonds, and as the 'lead' in your pencil (graphite). Carbon is found in all living cells. It participates in many chemical reactions. This non-metallic element has been known since prehistoric time. Some people consider it to be a ho-hum boring element, yet others value it for its countless uses.
  Which element are you??
  Oh. Wait. That was probably not the point of that question. Let's try this again.
  
  You are Water: You're sensitive and fluid, responding to feelings more than anything else. Dreams, visions, love, and the mysterious attract you. You may be prone to depression, so try to balance your emotions with rationality. Read more about your element.
  (on the very edge of Air: You're smart, witty, and process-oriented--but may be a little abstract and spacey at times. You're drawn to ideas and love to learn. Just make sure to leave room for feelings and sensations.  Read more about your element.)
  Are You Air, Earth, Water, or Fire?
• How many siblings?
  and in the beginning, there were three
• How many pets?
  I cannot claim ownership, but I live with two cats who I adore
• Obsessions?
  reading, sleeping, always being right
• Bad habits?
  obstinacy; lassitude regarding certain effects of advanced hygiene; voluntary communication lapses
• Phobias?
  big dogs and heights

*ABOUT YOU

• What makes you happy?
  sleep, caffeine, and back rubs. Kitties, perfect pieces of toast, and well-edited books. Alkaline Trio. Jeans that fit, on sale. Gleeful rumors.
• What really irritates you?
  Attention-getting. Warm water to drink. The smell of dirty laundry. Drivers who wave other people through 4-way stops.
• What makes you sad?
  people spending a lot of time bitching about (or making fun of) what they don't like rather than being satisfied with (or even grateful for) what they do. In other words: Facebook.
• What makes you angry?
  see "sad", above
• What makes you scared?
  my temper. Tornadoes. People who still text and drive, ignoring the very obvious reality of distraction.
• Who is your best friend?
  Fluffy
• Ever broken a bone?
  I've broken two bones, one of them at least twice
• What's the best advice you've ever received?
  "don't get attached to the plan"
• What was the last CD you bought?
  Elbow's The Take Off and Landing of Everything
• What was the last book you read?
  I'm currently rereading Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons, among others
• Who was the last person you spoke to?
  the local Fluffy, prior to her departure mall-ward
• What was the last thing you ate?
  two pieces of leftover Giordano's stuffed Canadian bacon + ground beef pizza
• What was the last thing you drank?
  Coke
• What's the best thing you've ever bought?
  I'm pretty happy with the pants I bought last night. That will work as well as anything in answer to this unanswerable question.
• What's the worst thing you've ever bought?
  I bought a couple of shirts, one of which I wore to Sparky's graduation party, that I wish I'd never seen. I probably looked terrible in them. I later gave them to Goodwill or a similar organization without a moment's regret. Awful, awful--in style, color, size: everything.
• What's the best thing you've ever been given?
  sparing a thought for the intangibles, which is of course one's first reaction to a prompt of this sort...I'll say my e-reader. I never thought I would love it as much as I do, use it as often as I have, enjoy it as greatly--and still use standard paper-books just as much. It has simply revitalized my love of reading that much more.
• What's the worst thing you've ever been given?
  someone I used to know, who thought he knew me well, used to give me expensive jewelry that didn't suit me at all. As much as I wanted to like it, and wear it, for his sake--it was just awful, frumpy, outdated, and dreadful. I cannot imagine what he was thinking. Was it that panic that can overtake a person who's shopping and has no firm ideas about what to get? Is it just a profound inability to see into my persona? Was it that he wished I was something other than I am? Regardless, the jewelry was big, yellow, chunky, and older-styled than I could stand to wear, and after our relationship ended, it turned itself (magically! and with the help of a trade-up policy at his favorite store) into several different pieces of jewelry that suit me very well, thank you.
  He knows, for what that's worth, and did not care a whit that it was done--except to say that it was mine, after all, and I should have what I want. That's a good friend, and a good person. If only we'd communicated so well before he'd bought the gifts, eh?
• What are your future goals?
  meh. I either have bucketloads of them or none at all. Which route shall we take? I'll try a middle-ground.
  Job (with appropriate, not meaningless, challenges). Home (not too big, not too elaborate, just home). Romance (whatever that means).
• Describe your bedroom:
  It's green. There's a queen bed, a very large dresser, a very small chest of drawers. One window and a closet. There are some oddities (a large number of lamps and framed prints and photographs, for instance) and it's quite jam-packed.
  And it's quiet, cozy, comfortable. I really couldn't ask for anything better.
• What's your most embarrassing moment?
  there are so many. Um, I didn't know where my first school friend lived, because the first time I'd visited her we had gone to her grandparents' house rather than to her house (and I had a memory like a sieve at the time). When I was invited to her house for a birthday party, later, I unthinkingly directed whichever parent was driving me there to go to the last house on the road--which was her grandparents'. Where there were no cars. And our knock went unanswered. And I was in tears, a lip-quivering five-year-old, perplexed at the highly complicated joke that had been played on me.
  And then my parent (my dad? I'm thinking?) looked at the invitation (thoughtfully brought along), and realized that we'd gone past the address (on the same road, thank God!). We got back in the car, I was brought back into calm, and we headed back down the road--to the house we'd passed on the way, with all the cars...and the balloons on the mailbox.
  Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing.
• Who do you consider the most beautiful woman in the world?
  my friend in the above answer. Timeless, happy, and still my oldest friend.
• Who do you consider the most handsome man in the world?
  one of my college boyfriends was drop-dead gorgeous. Even just to see him again...
  Yeah, it would break my heart. But MAN, he was f'ing hot.
• Favorite thing to do on a hot summers day?
  read - indoors
• Favorite thing to do on a snowy winters day?
  read - indoors
• If you were granted 3 wishes, what would they be?
  
  1. new job
  2. house
  3. no more headaches
• If you could go back in time to see or change something, when would it be and what would you do?
  other than the guy from college? Oh, for real I would think very carefully about what marriage means before trying it, rather than after. Lessons learned, right?
• What's the first thing you think about when you wake up?
  wishing for a little (or a lot, or twice as much) more sleep
• What exactly were you doing on September 11th as the terrorist attacks were being carried out in America?
  I was driving to work, a regular Tuesday of my life. At that time, oddly enough I was in the habit of listening to NPR in the car; at almost no other time before or since have I regularly listened to the radio, particularly in the morning. I remember hearing the report, that it registered in my brain on some level, and that I then shut off the radio. I drove most of the way in silence, absorbing. I think I knew instinctively that there would be time to get the details later, when details were available.
• Have you ever been in love?
  I have.
• Do you believe in the after-life?
  not as such, no
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
  it's not like that for me
• If you could choose your own death, how would you go?
  I can't, and so I won't
• What's the funniest joke you've ever been told?
  I have a terrible memory for jokes. I'm sure it was a good one, though.
• Do you have any regrets in life?
  naturally. Fewer than one might think, though.
• What advice would you give to a kid?
  depends on the kid
• Any hidden talents?
  yep, and so they shall remain
• Is yours an 'innie' or 'outie'?
  I'm going to say it's somewhere between
• Last job?
  graduate assistant for the physical therapy department at the local university
• Current job?
  goes without saying
• Dream job?
  editing, or maybe technical writing.
  More realistically, I'd like something close to what I do now (which could be termed something advanced on the data entry scale, let's say), but in a different field entirely.
• Who is your hero?
  “We shouldn't be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.”
  [Noam Chomsky]
• Describe yourself in 3 words:
  
  • intense
  • opinionated
  • sensitive

*FAVORITES

• Favorite color?
  #778899
• Favorite number?
  my best friend from high school's college telephone number, which I can still dial from memory
• Favorite animal?
  meerkat
• Favorite sport (to play)?
  table tennis
• Favorite sport (to watch)?
  golf
• Favorite show(s)?
  I'm shooting for no more regular television watching. The show that I liked the most this season, which was interesting and compelling (and fun) has been cancelled after a year, so I feel justified in endeavoring not to support the networks and their idiotic games.
• Favorite movies?
  see any post tagged "Watch It" (sidebar right)
• Favorite band?
  Alkaline Trio, at the moment. (See any post tagged "Listen to It", sidebar right)
  
• Favorite song?
  "Blue in the Face"--the semi-acoustic version from Damnesia--by Alkaline Trio
  
• Favorite room in the house?
  by simple frequency of use? Living room, hands down.
• Favorite board game?
  hard to say--it's been years since I've played one, I think?
• Favorite video games?
  meh
• Favorite food?
  I'm pretty wild about the Parmesan chicken pasta at Ruby Tuesday's
• Favorite fast-food?
  Taco Bell sounds good right now
• Favorite drink?
  lemon-drop martinis
• Favorite magazine?
  Bookmarks
• Favorite place?
  ...remains to be seen, I suppose?
• Favorite cartoon character?
  Looney Toons' Chickenhawk
• Favorite day of the week?
  Saturday
• Favorite day of the year?
  first day of summer, I suppose?
• Favorite season?
  autumn
• Favorite holiday?
  my birthday--but not because it's mine
• Favorite country?
  I've always wanted to go bowling in Canada
• Favorite smell?
  clean sheets
• Favorite sound?
  rain
• Favorite accent?
  grave

*PREFERENCES

• Coke or Pepsi?
  Coke
• Pen or Pencil?
  pen (though I use a pencil all day)
• Day or Night?
  night
• Cat or Dog?
  cat
• Summer or Winter?
  winter (with many, many disclaimers)
• T.V. or Radio?
  television (with almost as many disclaimers)
• Brains or Beauty?
  brains, of course
• Cup or Mug?
  mug
• Tea or Coffee?
  tea
• Gold or Silver?
  silver
• Brush or Comb?
  comb
• City or Country?
  country
• Red or White wine?
  neither
• Early or Late riser?
  late
• Blond or Brunette?
  to have or to be?
• Scary or Romantic movies?
  given that choices, I suppose romantic, but that's hardly the only or best choice!
• Board or Computer games?
  board
• Half full or Half empty?
  meh
• Happy and poor or Sad and rich?
  I'd argue for half of each, thanks. I've been each at various times and can't advocate for virtuous poverty regardless of virtue--but neither can I argue for sadness.
• Glasses or Contacts?
  contacts for me, but I'm not picky for all y'all
• Flowers or Chocolates?
  chocolates--but I am picky about them
• Love or Money?
  love, duh
• Hugs or Kisses?
  kisses

*RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW

• What are you wearing?
  gray law school t-shirt, gray-blue PJ pants rolled up to the knee, and white running socks
• What's the latest news?
  heh--funny you should ask. There was some big news yesterday. Still absorbing that, and dealing with the ripples of rumor about it. We shall see how that all turns out....
• What's the weather like?
  68°F, clear, feels like 68°; winds ESE at 4 mph; Humidity 37%
• How do you feel?
  stiff neck, sore head (migraine, day 5), but basically pretty good

[This quiz was pulled from some random source, unattributed. The title quotation is Dogbert's Motto, from Dilbert by Scott Adams.]