f i v e things meme
[via]
What were you doing 10 years ago?
February 1996: Freshman in high school, so probably, studying. And studying some more. The following month I’d get my first perfect score on the NLE. (And yeah, I said first because I did it twice. Never question my geekdom, ladies and gentlemen.) Oh yeah, and I was still taking the AP level Art Class that I’d weaseled my way in with my sweet, sweet wiles, so I was either working on an children’s book, a restaurant layout and/or possibly the dreaded Chair project.* And I believe I was taking my first set of enameling classes on Saturdays at CIA, sweating the winter out with the kilns.
* The Dreaded Chair Project, also known as the “Hey, RISD Does This! That Makes It High-Minded and Challenging and Perfectly Okay to Assign to Artsy High Schoolers!” Project, was to construct from scratch a “whimsical” chair which would support our instructor’s weight. Emphasis on the whimsical part. I’m not telling what I did, but it was sure... whimsical, all right. And since I was one of the only ones who finished the damn project, and because it made my teacher laugh until he cried, I did well on it. But it was silly and sucked the life out of me for two months and it’s probably the reason I never did end up going to RISD because I never ever wanted to do that ever again. Ever.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
Getting hired for my current job (my first day was Valentine’s Day). Ah, the memories!
Five snacks you enjoy:
A. Popcorn
B. Mozzarella Sticks
C. Double Fudge Brownie ice cream
D. Saltless pretzels. It's a childhood thing.
E. Triscuits
Five songs you know all the words to:
A. "The soldier came knocking upon the Queen’s door/ He said ‘I am not fighting for you anymore’/ And the Queen knew she’d seen his face someplace before/ And slowly she let him inside.”
Because for some reason I’ve memorized a lot of “epic” songs. In fact, I think the only reason I know my Noyes is because of Loreena McKennitt.
B. “Now once upon a time, I had plenty of nothin’/ Which was fine with me/ Because I had rhythm, music, love/ The sun, the stars and the moon above/ Had the clear blue sky, and the deep blue sea/ That was when the best things in life were free.”
Which is so weird that I still know all the words to this, because I’ve forgotten all the words to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Baby’s Got Sauce,” also big hits of my childhood. But this one sticks. Was it something about that summer of ‘90, belting out songs in my fist on my aunt’s balcony, dreaming of growing up to be Breathless Mahoney... or is this yet another example of my freakishly selective memory? But seriously, all the words. And the dance moves— because you can’t sing “soon you’ve got the kit as well as the boodle” without dance moves. (What a classy preteen I was.)
C. “What’s the matter, Mary Jane/ Had a hard day?/ So put the don’t disturb sign on the door/ You’re losing weight again/ What a pity/ You ever wonder who you’re losing it for?”
I still want to write a story to this song. Haven’t managed it yet, but will, one day.
D. “It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday/ The regular crowd shuffles in/ There’s an old man sitting next to me/ Making love to his tonic and gin”
Because out of all the Billy Joel/Elton John songs I know and remember and love, it’s the quintessential one.
E. “Wednesday morning at five o’clock, as the day begins/ Silently closing her bedroom door/ Leaving a note that she hoped would say more/ She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief/ Quietly turning the backdoor key/ Stepping outside she is free”
Because everybody knows Beatles songs, and it’d be too big of a giveaway if I led off with “Eleanor Rigby.” Because I started out with Muppet-style ("Letter B") and graduated, and my mom still has the original Sgt. Pepper album inserts in mint condition, so it was kind of inevitable.
Honorable Mentions to:
“Floatin’ in the river with a saturated liver and I wish I could forgive her/ But I do believe she meant it when she told me to forget it and I’ll bet she will regret it when they find me in the morning/ Dead and drowned/ Word gets ‘round/ Goin’ down”
Oh, and sing it fast too. Really fast.
“My eyes are fully open to my awful situation/ I will go at once to Mabel and I’ll make her an oration/ I will tell her I am bound by duty and my moral senses/ And I don’t know what to do about the pending consequences/ And I do not want to perish by the sword or by the dagger/ But a pirate may indulge a little pardonable swagger/ And a word or two of compliment my vanity would flatter/ But I’ve got to go tonight so it really doesn’t matter!”
Wouldn’t be right to not mention G&S.
"I walk the wave of moments and everywhere I turn to/ Begins a new beginning but never finds a finish/ It's either this or that way/ It's one way or the other/ It could be one direction/ It could be a reflection/ The turn I have just taken/ The turn that I was making/ I might be just beginning/ I might be near the/ End."
First song of hers I ever heard, back when she was winning Grammy's and quite the oddity. Beats that "Only Time" crap.
“Well, she crept back in the house at half past three/ Shook her head and saw him snoring in his sleep/ If he really loved me, she said/ I wouldn’t have to be so mean”
Ben Folds should just get some sort of a lyric writing award for all time. I don’t know of anyone else who can write things that are so funny and so heartbreaking all at the same time.
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
A. Travel. Extensively and expensively.
B. Buy a house where one room could be a library for all my books. (If billionaire, buy house big enough that said library had one of those really cool ladders on a track around it, because I’m eccentric like that and saw Bedknobs & Broomsticks far too many times as a child and am warped now for life. Damn you, David Tomlinson! Speaking of which, Portobello Road? Favorite Disney song EVER and instigator of my all antiquing fantasies: "Waterford crystal, Napolean's pistols/ Society's heirlooms with genuine gums/ Remrandts, El Grecos, Toulouse "Lautrecos"/ Painted last week on the banks of the Thames")
C. Collect first editions.
D. Have a designer wardrobe (because yes, even I get to be a girly-girl sometimes).
E. Buy my mother a Mercedes (because she’s always wanted one).
Five bad habits:
A. Biting my nails
B. Not speaking my mind enough or asking questions that I know I should ask
C. Worrying about my tires
D. Eating junk food
E. “Forgetting” to go to the gym
Five things you enjoy doing:
A. Reading
B. Going to the movies
C. Writing
D. Making lists (and crossing things off them)
E. Baking
Five things you would never wear again:
A. Turtlenecks. And dickies, because there was that one time my mom made me wear one and I pitched a fit. Because they both are awful, constricting contraptions that need to stay far away from me.
B. Any article of clothing with a mirror on it. Unfortunately this trend is making a comeback. Why? WHY, GOD, WHY? How is the stereotypic elderly Atlantic City glamour puss of the 80s leading modern fashion trends? And don't even get me started on Express and their formal shorts. Because, no. Just no.
C. Thong sandals. Blisters, oh the blisters. So, no, never again.
D. A baggy t-shirt bunched up in a knot with leggings and two pairs of socks. Yes, I lived through the 80s and I never want to go back there again.
E. A baggy sweater that reaches my knees. Because I may not love my body, but I certainly don't hate it that much anymore. Shudder.
Five favorite toys:
A. Does my iBook count? Because I love it so.
B. DVD/VCR
C. iPod, which I still have yet to name. Sybilla, maybe? Because it's small and white and indefatigible, with a bit of a mean streak.
D. Clue
E. Franklin (He’s a stuffed panda named after Big Ben and I’ve had him forever and I refuse to part with him. Ever.)
What were you doing 10 years ago?
February 1996: Freshman in high school, so probably, studying. And studying some more. The following month I’d get my first perfect score on the NLE. (And yeah, I said first because I did it twice. Never question my geekdom, ladies and gentlemen.) Oh yeah, and I was still taking the AP level Art Class that I’d weaseled my way in with my sweet, sweet wiles, so I was either working on an children’s book, a restaurant layout and/or possibly the dreaded Chair project.* And I believe I was taking my first set of enameling classes on Saturdays at CIA, sweating the winter out with the kilns.
* The Dreaded Chair Project, also known as the “Hey, RISD Does This! That Makes It High-Minded and Challenging and Perfectly Okay to Assign to Artsy High Schoolers!” Project, was to construct from scratch a “whimsical” chair which would support our instructor’s weight. Emphasis on the whimsical part. I’m not telling what I did, but it was sure... whimsical, all right. And since I was one of the only ones who finished the damn project, and because it made my teacher laugh until he cried, I did well on it. But it was silly and sucked the life out of me for two months and it’s probably the reason I never did end up going to RISD because I never ever wanted to do that ever again. Ever.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
Getting hired for my current job (my first day was Valentine’s Day). Ah, the memories!
Five snacks you enjoy:
A. Popcorn
B. Mozzarella Sticks
C. Double Fudge Brownie ice cream
D. Saltless pretzels. It's a childhood thing.
E. Triscuits
Five songs you know all the words to:
A. "The soldier came knocking upon the Queen’s door/ He said ‘I am not fighting for you anymore’/ And the Queen knew she’d seen his face someplace before/ And slowly she let him inside.”
Because for some reason I’ve memorized a lot of “epic” songs. In fact, I think the only reason I know my Noyes is because of Loreena McKennitt.
B. “Now once upon a time, I had plenty of nothin’/ Which was fine with me/ Because I had rhythm, music, love/ The sun, the stars and the moon above/ Had the clear blue sky, and the deep blue sea/ That was when the best things in life were free.”
Which is so weird that I still know all the words to this, because I’ve forgotten all the words to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Baby’s Got Sauce,” also big hits of my childhood. But this one sticks. Was it something about that summer of ‘90, belting out songs in my fist on my aunt’s balcony, dreaming of growing up to be Breathless Mahoney... or is this yet another example of my freakishly selective memory? But seriously, all the words. And the dance moves— because you can’t sing “soon you’ve got the kit as well as the boodle” without dance moves. (What a classy preteen I was.)
C. “What’s the matter, Mary Jane/ Had a hard day?/ So put the don’t disturb sign on the door/ You’re losing weight again/ What a pity/ You ever wonder who you’re losing it for?”
I still want to write a story to this song. Haven’t managed it yet, but will, one day.
D. “It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday/ The regular crowd shuffles in/ There’s an old man sitting next to me/ Making love to his tonic and gin”
Because out of all the Billy Joel/Elton John songs I know and remember and love, it’s the quintessential one.
E. “Wednesday morning at five o’clock, as the day begins/ Silently closing her bedroom door/ Leaving a note that she hoped would say more/ She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief/ Quietly turning the backdoor key/ Stepping outside she is free”
Because everybody knows Beatles songs, and it’d be too big of a giveaway if I led off with “Eleanor Rigby.” Because I started out with Muppet-style ("Letter B") and graduated, and my mom still has the original Sgt. Pepper album inserts in mint condition, so it was kind of inevitable.
Honorable Mentions to:
“Floatin’ in the river with a saturated liver and I wish I could forgive her/ But I do believe she meant it when she told me to forget it and I’ll bet she will regret it when they find me in the morning/ Dead and drowned/ Word gets ‘round/ Goin’ down”
Oh, and sing it fast too. Really fast.
“My eyes are fully open to my awful situation/ I will go at once to Mabel and I’ll make her an oration/ I will tell her I am bound by duty and my moral senses/ And I don’t know what to do about the pending consequences/ And I do not want to perish by the sword or by the dagger/ But a pirate may indulge a little pardonable swagger/ And a word or two of compliment my vanity would flatter/ But I’ve got to go tonight so it really doesn’t matter!”
Wouldn’t be right to not mention G&S.
"I walk the wave of moments and everywhere I turn to/ Begins a new beginning but never finds a finish/ It's either this or that way/ It's one way or the other/ It could be one direction/ It could be a reflection/ The turn I have just taken/ The turn that I was making/ I might be just beginning/ I might be near the/ End."
First song of hers I ever heard, back when she was winning Grammy's and quite the oddity. Beats that "Only Time" crap.
“Well, she crept back in the house at half past three/ Shook her head and saw him snoring in his sleep/ If he really loved me, she said/ I wouldn’t have to be so mean”
Ben Folds should just get some sort of a lyric writing award for all time. I don’t know of anyone else who can write things that are so funny and so heartbreaking all at the same time.
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
A. Travel. Extensively and expensively.
B. Buy a house where one room could be a library for all my books. (If billionaire, buy house big enough that said library had one of those really cool ladders on a track around it, because I’m eccentric like that and saw Bedknobs & Broomsticks far too many times as a child and am warped now for life. Damn you, David Tomlinson! Speaking of which, Portobello Road? Favorite Disney song EVER and instigator of my all antiquing fantasies: "Waterford crystal, Napolean's pistols/ Society's heirlooms with genuine gums/ Remrandts, El Grecos, Toulouse "Lautrecos"/ Painted last week on the banks of the Thames")
C. Collect first editions.
D. Have a designer wardrobe (because yes, even I get to be a girly-girl sometimes).
E. Buy my mother a Mercedes (because she’s always wanted one).
Five bad habits:
A. Biting my nails
B. Not speaking my mind enough or asking questions that I know I should ask
C. Worrying about my tires
D. Eating junk food
E. “Forgetting” to go to the gym
Five things you enjoy doing:
A. Reading
B. Going to the movies
C. Writing
D. Making lists (and crossing things off them)
E. Baking
Five things you would never wear again:
A. Turtlenecks. And dickies, because there was that one time my mom made me wear one and I pitched a fit. Because they both are awful, constricting contraptions that need to stay far away from me.
B. Any article of clothing with a mirror on it. Unfortunately this trend is making a comeback. Why? WHY, GOD, WHY? How is the stereotypic elderly Atlantic City glamour puss of the 80s leading modern fashion trends? And don't even get me started on Express and their formal shorts. Because, no. Just no.
C. Thong sandals. Blisters, oh the blisters. So, no, never again.
D. A baggy t-shirt bunched up in a knot with leggings and two pairs of socks. Yes, I lived through the 80s and I never want to go back there again.
E. A baggy sweater that reaches my knees. Because I may not love my body, but I certainly don't hate it that much anymore. Shudder.
Five favorite toys:
A. Does my iBook count? Because I love it so.
B. DVD/VCR
C. iPod, which I still have yet to name. Sybilla, maybe? Because it's small and white and indefatigible, with a bit of a mean streak.
D. Clue
E. Franklin (He’s a stuffed panda named after Big Ben and I’ve had him forever and I refuse to part with him. Ever.)
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