Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Ye Olde Meme

A long time ago, in a galaxy known as Ye Early Blogging Times, there was "tagging" and these things called "memes." In these times, most people wrote personal blogs, or as they were known then, web logs. I haven't done a meme in a long time, but in my desire to try to kickstart my writing here once again—dammit to hell trying to figure out the content and purpose of this blog—I'm thrilled to have been tagged by Gazelles on Crack!

I have to answer her questions, personal as they might be. Ready? Here we go.

What is your #1 best memory - the one that will always make you smile?
While I may smile both with laughter and with fear on this one, it's an early morning earthquake in Southern California. My bedroom had a linoleum floor, and my crib had wheels. Needless to say, when that room began rockin', my crib began rollin'. And I stood up for the ride. I couldn't have been that little, because I can remember. Standing up, laughing and holding onto the crib's edge, while my mother in her nightgown chased me around the room. I don't think she was laughing though.

If you could do anything (career wise), and money was no object, what would that be?
Honestly? I really love what I do. But I think I'd be an artist. I'd build things, make things, tinker with things, paint things. There might be some welding equipment in there too. But it would all be from my own eye and crazy vision.

What is the most awesome place you've ever visited?
I just visited Australia for the second time, and it was awesome. With animals like kangaroos, and beaches that take your breath away, what else is there to say? Here is a photo of each of those things taken last month. Awesome.
Emerald beach
Hangin at the beach with the Roos

What is your go-to comfort food?
It used to be homemade mac-n-cheese. But these days, it's a big bowl of steaming soup. With lots of lime juice, ginger, green onions, mushrooms and maybe tofu. I like the steamy facial you get at the same time as you slurp the hot soup. On cold days, it's the best.

What's your guilty pleasure (that you're willing to admit to in a public forum?)
This time of year, it's really long hot showers under my rain showerhead. Long showers. Like until the hot water runs out. Such the bad environmentalist. But sometimes that's what it takes to feel warm again in our cold, wet winters. In our summers? My guilty pleasure is laying in the summer sun and working on my tan. Sometimes even without sunscreen on.

Favorite way to relieve stress?
To prevent it, I work out. Hard. At the gym or by running. I do a morning spin class 3+ times a week, and on other days, run or take a yoga class. If I work out in the morning, it keeps me calm and stress free throughout the day. If I end up feeling stressed anyway, working in the garden or being outdoors helps me disconnect and come back to my center.

Favorite book?
I've gone through different phases in different times of my life, including a love affair with all of Tom Robbins' classic books in the early 1990s. Hello, Jitterbug Perfume and Still Life With Woodpecker. But I think if there's anything I continually come back to, it's the classic witty prose in The Portable Dorothy Parker. I would love to have a drink with Dorothy. What a bitterly delightful woman.

Favorite movie?
Moulin Rouge. Everything about it. The art direction, the costumes, the music, the cast: I know the soundtrack word for word. Did you know Wink's middle name, Satine, was for the main character in Moulin Rouge? Satine, in her white dress, so elegant.

What are you good at that hardly gets recognized?
I'm an early adopter. Technology, trends, you name it. Hello. What year did we organize the first pie-off? Hello. And I just received a happy five year anniversary note from Twitter. I've been on it five years.

What did your 10-year-old self want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a piano teacher. Because that's what I knew. I may still be a teacher in my lifetime, it just won't be piano. I don't know yet what I will teach but I know I will.

What's holding you back?
I've learned this past year that the only thing holding me back is myself. The world, my friends, is our oyster.

7 comments:

Amy said...

Thank you for playing! I haven't done a meme in forever, either, and it was good for me, too! :)

I adore Tom Robbins, long hot showers, and working out. (Man, I miss hard workouts.)

Paula said...

Great post! And I especially like your description of Dorothy Parker, who I suspect was a tragically unhappy person but jesus was she funny.

I also really like Tom Robbins, but I find that after reading him, my mind babbles and I can't shut it off.

LeLo said...

Paula, Tom Robbins does the same mind babbling thing with my mind. It's his whole style, isn't it? I'm not his biggest fan now, but I certainly was at another time in my life. And you are spot on about Dorothy Parker.

Heather said...

Awesome post Lelo!

danger garden said...

Fun! Seriously I didn't even know that Twitter had been around for 5 years...

A Lewis said...

Just reading your posts keeps me calm. Or at least reminds me that I need to be calm. Or at least reminds me to get back to yoga to learn to be calm. Well, you know....

Will said...

"including a love affair with all of Tom Robbins' classic books in the early 1990s. "

I shared this love affair. Though his later work definitely veered off the path I enjoyed traveling with him. Early on, he had strong female characters that totally disappeared in his later works.

Also, I have a favor, the soup sounds wonderful. Would you mind sending me a more specific recipe?

It was great seeing you the other day. We really have to figure out a more regular possibility of getting together even outside of professional endeavors.