Tout Doucement

My good friend at I Know About Popular posted this meme yesterday, and it looked like fun. To play put your iPod on shuffle, and answer each question:

What is your motto?
Saw Red (Sublime)

What do your friends think of you?
Joy to the World (Bach)

What do you think about very often?
Reason Why (Rachael Yamagata)

What is 2+2?
What is This Thing Called Love? (Frank Sinatra)

What do you think of your best friend?
Gone Away From Me (Ray LaMontagne)

What do you think about the person you like?
Love is Here to Stay (Ella Fitzgerald)

What is your life story?
When I Come Around (Green Day)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Be Still (Kelly Clarkson)

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
We're Going to be Friends (Jack Johnson)

What do your parents think of you?
All At Once (The Fray)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Diana Krall)

What will they play at your funeral?
Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off (Panic! At The Disco)

What is your hobby/interest?
Burning Bridges (Jason Mraz)

What is your biggest secret?
Yellow Ledbetter (Pearl Jam)

What do you think of your friends?
Somebody Told Me (The Killers)

What's the worst thing that can happen?
The Unforgettable Fire (U2)

How will you die?
Shadowboxer (Fiona Apple)

What is the one thing you regret?
Allegro (from the 4 Seasons, by Vivaldi)

What makes you laugh?
The Lovecats (The Cure)

What makes you cry?
Sunday Kind of Love (Etta James)

Will you ever get married?
New Year's Day (U2)

What scares you the most?
Dreaming my Dreams (The Cranberries)

Does anyone like you?
The Sharp Hint of New Tears (Dashboard Confessional)

If you could go back in time, what would you change?
Into the West (Annie Lennox)

What hurts right now?
Rootless Tree (Damien Rice)

What will you post this as?
Tout Doucement (Feist)

5 Pictures That Made Me Smile

A Memoir in 6 Words? Yes.

There has been a recent trend toward these succinct little life-stories, although "legend" has it that Hemingway wrote the first one; he was challenged to write a story using only 6 words, and his heart-wrenching response was: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." SMITH magazine has not only published 2 books, it has a dedicated website for readers' submissions -- you can read more here. So, while I was reading some of these the other day -- some are hilarious, some are gut-wrenching, and some are just kind of...lame -- I was inspired to try this myself, and I came up with:

I shouldn't pick my own boyfriends.

or

Stopped singing, started writing; found voice.

or

Crazy dog lady, and it's okay.

I would love to see what others' come up with. Please leave me a comment with your 6 word memoirs, and maybe I'll publish them in a future post!

New Favorites

New Year, New President, New Faves, right? These aren't necessarily NEW, they are just new to me, and newly favorited by moi:

This song: Bruises by Chairlift

This TV Show (since ABC cancelled "Pushing Daisies, those bastards! Whatever happened to an appreciation of whimsy?): The Biggest Loser

This piece of technology: The Kindle

These blogs: Dear Old Love and Neatorama

This Game: Peggle -- Careful! It's addicting!

This Movie: Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day

More Faves to Follow, as they make the cut!

Hope

Congratulations, Mr. President

Novel Pursuits

I have always wanted to write a novel. From the time I was a little girl, I've dreamed of having a book with my name on the cover "FOR SALE". To that end, I have started several "novels", but they never really got off the ground. Lately, I have decided that if poorly written books about sparkly, celibate vampires can become an absolute phenomenon, I have a chance. (SIDEBAR: Okay, okay, good for her, right? She took a chance and it paid off. Some of it she got right: vampires are traditionally very good looking, and the sparkle has its place as well, although traditional vampire legend calls it a "glamour", but really? Celibate vampires? Vampires are perhaps the most erotic mythical creature; the very name is practically synonymous with sensuality... I think that's where she lost me. That, or somewhere around the baseball game... NON SEQUITUR: Random comment along the same vampire vein (ha! no pun intended), I recently read a book called The Historian for my book club. It is essentially a history/travelogue of the Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War masquerading as a re-telling of the Dracula legend. Although, in this version, Dracula has nothing more nefarious in mind than finding a scholar to catalogue his "evil Library"...642 pages, y'all... I have decided that a vampire story is NOT the way to go. Although, I haven't entirely ruled out the idea of writing a bodice-ripper under a nom de plume, just because I can...) So, while I wasn't blogging, I was engaged in other creative outlets, and it was relatively productive. I wrote a couple new poems, re-wrote a couple old ones, and started a few more. Plus, I started a "story"; I sort of refuse to call it anything else for fear of jinxing myself. So, right now, it is in the infant-est of infant stages, but I like the premise, and I like the idea that I've started. Who knows where it will go from here?

Murder, She Heard

As I blogged in September, I was working on moving into a new apartment, and hoping I could do it all with my schedule, blah, blah, blah. I did get it done, and I got moved. Unfortunately, I hated it from the beginning. I kind of felt like it was a mistake, and that I should've backed out when I had the chance. But, I figured I would get over it, and things would get better. They didn't. In fact, they got much, much worse...
I had been in the apartment for only about 5 weeks when a guy was stabbed. TO death. 10 feet from my bedroom window! Um, yeah... I heard the "altercation". I had a minor (okay, major) freak out, and left. I have been staying with my parents since before Thanksgiving, and am now officially staying here for the foreseeable future. The reason? When I tried to talk to my landlord about the fact that someone was stabbed right outside my window, and wanted some way to get out of my lease due to unsafe conditions, they tried to evict me! Bastards, right? So, I had 3 days to leave my apartment, or I was going to be formally evicted. I got out, all my stuff is in a hastily rented storage unit, and I am more or less homeless.
I have learned two things: 1) I need to trust my instincts, and 2) the west side is the Danger Zone... And, if anyone knows of an apartment to rent, or a condo to buy, I'm all ears...

Resolu-won't

I did not make any resolutions this past January 1st, nor do I have any intention of doing so. Frankly, 2008 kind of sucked, and I've had some crap things to work through, so really, I just want 2009 to better. I will make a continual effort to be a good person, and to do my best every day, but I'm not calling it a resolution. And I feel okay about it.

Blog Fail

I think it safe to say that I have super-sucked on the blogging thing the last few months. That makes me feel bad, not because I'm sure that I have legions of devoted readers, but because I feel like if I am going to take up a share of the internets, I have a responsibility to keep up with it, right? So, I'm owning up to my blog fail, and I'm going to attempt to make amends....