Memememememe

[geoviki]

Update: My sister's health problems are of concern but not immediately life-threatening. Thanks for your kind thoughts.

The thirty-questions meme. Odd stories at no extra cost.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you.

Beethoven. And Liv Ullman, which NPR tells me every year.

2. Where was your first kiss?

Unbridled Lust Explodes in Junior High School - that would have been the headline. At a school dance, someone got the innovative idea to "collect" kisses, and within 5 minutes, the whole gym turned into a massive snog-fest. The cute guy I was hot for had eight hundred and something before I added a few dozen to his count. I kissed numerous boys I'd only talked with in passing, and some I didn't even know. It was insanity at its hormonally-challenged finest. I think all junior high schools should do this annually.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?

No. But a cocaine-addled friend I was walking with once dumped a beer into a top-down Ferrari we passed on our way to a bar, with a comment about the property-sucking rich. Which I thought was odd even at the time, since he was from a wealthy Connecticut family.

4. Have you ever hit on someone of the opposite sex?

Yes. Same sex, too.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?

Yes. Duet in a choir. I used to be nervous about speaking to a crowd until I tried singing to them.

6. What's the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?

Their hair. You thought Waters Of March wasn't personal? Think again.

7. What really turns you on?

Intelligence and attention.

8. What do you order at Starbucks?

I'm intimidated by all the names, so I go for the house blend with room for cream, and a dash of cinnamon. Oh, surprise, that's what Harry drinks in Waters of March. I write what I know.

9. What is your biggest mistake?

There are too many to mention. Boyfriends #1 and #2 come to mind right off the bat. The first was an alcoholic artist with a host of mental woes, and the second left town "on vacation" and never came back.

10. Ever hurt yourself on purpose?

Yes, stupidly. For attention. And it didn't work. Wisely, the next move I made was to see a psychologist, who basically explained that boyfriend #1 was Harmful to my mental health.

11. Say something totally random about you.

I like driving my SUV. Makes me feel tall.

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?

Yes. My now-husband thought I looked like Grace Slick. Which I actually don't.

13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?

Of course.

14. Did you have braces?

No. Could've used them, though.

15. Are you comfortable with your height?

Yes. I'm so average.

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you?

Married me, I suppose. Oh, except I had to browbeat him a bit first, so.... Oh, the back massages. Those are pretty wonderful. Or maybe taking me to a cool hotel for my 50th birthday.

17. When do you know it's love?

I'm still learning the nuances of that.

18. Do you speak any other languages?

Crappy high-school French. And I taught myself quite a bit of sign-language.

19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?

No. God, I went to a sensory-deprivation chamber, though, where I floated naked in tepid salt water in the dark. And wasn't that just so Boulder-in-the-70's?

20. What magazines do you read?

U.S. News and World Report, Vanity Fair (hey, they have the best political writers!), Consumer Reports.

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo?

Yes. To the airport.

22. Has anyone you were really close with passed away?

Yes, of course. My father, for one.

23. Do you watch MTV?

Don't watch TV at all. But when MTV first started (and it had multiple local variations) I was addicted. Almost as bad as LJ. That was in the early 80's. When nmalfoy played "Oh Mickey" at TWH, it brought it back utterly.

24. What's something that really annoys you?

People who are late. The health-care morass in the US. When my feet won't warm up in bed.

25. What's something you really like?

Music - lots and varied. Red wine. With music.

26. Do you like Michael Jackson?

No.

27. Can you dance?

Check out gmth's video from TWH! Oh, it expired. You'll have to take my word for it.

28. What's the latest you have ever stayed up?

All night, giving birth. Kind of hard to sleep through. And traveling. I took a red-eye to New Orleans once. Actually, the girl I was staying with kicked me out of her apartment 3 hours before my flight left (I suppose the gesture was important to make). So I hung around the airport for a while first. I also nodded off in the LA airport overnight on the way home from Hawaii. Woke up to the overpowering smell of cigarettes (back in the day, wasn't it?).

29. Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die?

Yes. I mean, we're all going to die, AFAIK. It's just that the predicted date ranges from oh, manana to OMGWTF Right This Very Minute!!!

30. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?

No. But last year I followed my son's when he had appendicitis and had to be moved to another hospital.

Comments

[jonem.livejournal.com]

Wait - there was a video? And I missed it? Bother.

Oh well. I'm still intrigued by the idea of Vanity Fair's political coverage...

(And very glad that your sister is okayish!)

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Hey, I dance like a dancing thang! Shake my booty!

You should do more than ponder Vanity Fair. It's like people who say they read Playboy for the writers - no joke. They do a superb job at ferreting out the inside story in politics.

(And thanks)

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Vanity Fair's political coverage is superb, as is their cultural coverage. And yes, they print a lot of gossip and celebrity profiles, but they also have top-notch photography by Annie Leibovitz and one of the best true crime writers around, Dominick Dunne.

Besides, what would I do without my regular doses of Edwin John Coaster, contributing editor?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! I like Dominick Dunne, too. And the photos, and even the fashion, which I don't apply IRL (obviously).

But Boyd Holbrook has yet to appear in its hallowed pages. Yes, I'm one of those Draco fans.

[abbycadabra.livejournal.com]

I'm snatching this. Hee!

Oh, and your Starbucks order? Sounds delicious! I'm going to have to use that one. And the names scare me, too.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Going off to read.....

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, the snog-fest was definitely a fine introduction to sexuality. I highly rec it to all young 'uns. Except My Children!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

I just saw the message about your sister, I hope she is all right. *hugs*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sweetie. I appreciate it.

(Did you get my email asking for The Name?)

[twigged.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't! If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, check fandom wank - it made it over there last night. :D

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Done and done. Not someone in my circle, thank God. But I know it was someone in H/D fandom, because of the names dropped.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I recognized her name but don't think I ever had any interaction with her. I used to assume trolls were bitter lurkers, but more and more it seems like they're bitter people we all know. Disturbing.

[anjenue.livejournal.com]

♥. So much ♥.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, Anj. I have so many things I could reassure you about your own posts, but I'm afraid I'd come off like the Terror Mom. But you can see some of the stuff here hints at the "good-girl-but-not" past, huh? "Cut to chase": it does work out in the end.

[fungus-files.livejournal.com]

I love reading Vanity Fair when I can get my hands on it. When it's air-freighted to Oz, it's about AUD$16-18 at the newsagency. Cripes! I do love it for the gloss, truth be told, but also read it to get a handle on US current affairs and political stoushes.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Don't your libraries carry it? I give my cast-off copies to my brother-in-law.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Glad to know she's doing better. That must be at least a lightening of your burden.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Yes, and yes, but.... She told me she's losing her insurance at the end of the month, which is a horrible yet typical Amrican problem.

[silentauror.livejournal.com]

Okay, first: so glad your sister is sort of okay, or at least stable for now.

Second: oh, how I love The Waters of March. Must re-read soon. :)

Third: I'd be interested in a junior high snogfest right about now, actually. :)

Fourth: #5 - OMG, I would so rather sing to people than speak to them!!! They're very different things, in my opinion, and people seem to prefer one or the other, usually. Most of the classical singers I know, at least, are terrible public speakers. We don't even like to announce the names of the pieces we're singing, generally. :D

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I think you have a much better voice than I! Mine is as average as my height. But now that you mention it, I know a pianist who hates to introduce her songs. And I saw George Winston in concert, and he was the very same way.

Thanks for the rest.

[gilded-kage.livejournal.com]

So glad your sister is doing okay.

Reading this inspired me to go back and reread much of Waters of March. It put me in a slightly better mood for marking student essays. I love the hair combing parts the best, and the perfume of Draco's hair. I wanted to be both the comber and the combee.

I also find hair very attractive. And lips. I'm a sucker for shapely lips. Mmmmmmm.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

And now I also remember that you and I were dancing to the immortal "Oh Mickey", so now I'll think of you and MTV when I hear that song.

I also remember the topic we were discussing over the noise, but I'll just keep that tucked away in a secret place that makes me smile.

[gilded-kage.livejournal.com]

I remember, too. Thanks for the dance!

I put some hair combing of a somewhat therapeutic sort into my short rentboy!Draco drabble (my lj, Sept. 14).

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! Rentboy Draco is one of my surefire kinks! That was short and sweet.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your sister, Viki. *hugs* Hope all is fine otherwise.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Penny. I've talked to her a few times since, and she's doing okay. Being in the hospital (Annapolis - you may know it) on the weekend is guaranteed no news. People are bringing her lots of great junk food, though.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Junk food is good. Hospital food sucks. I try and avoid the cafeteria at all costs. :P

Have you seen George Michael lately, btw? He looks so bad.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was looking at some Googled stuff about George, and someone posted some ugly shots of him. Maybe we could invite him to join porkish_pixies? Still, I just care about his voice. As long as his honey is okay with his appearance, I'm thinking he can do whatever he likes.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

George Michael and Boy George!

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear your sister is okay.

And this:

People who are late.

is one of the things that really does annoy me. I am *never* late for anything. My friends worry if I'm 5 minutes late. Really.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I'm going through this thing with my son where he'll call for a ride, then not appear... Grrrrr!

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

Ugh...I would be thinking about disowning him at this point. Which, of course, I know you can't do with kids, but man I'd go nuts.

[fourth_rose]

I'm glad to hear your sister is somewhat ok, I hope she gets better soon!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

She's home now, but still has some tests to sit through (of course).

I'm loving your crossover thingie, BTW! Even though I've never read the Discworld books, I'm still gettiing the drift. In a way, it's neat to be introduced to the concepts of that world at the same time as Draco is, because it heightens the uncertainty he's feeling.

[fourth_rose]

Best wishes to your sister!

I'm really happy you like the crossover. I hadn't considered how it would be for someone who's not familiar with Discworld, but you're right, you're on equal footing with Draco that way ;-)

(I can really recommend the Discworld series, btw. Every HP fan I know who has read the books loved them...)

[waterbird.livejournal.com]

I am always cold - but a hot-water bottle at the foot of my bed keeps the toes toasty. In fact, in winter I usually start wishing for a hot-water bottle bodysuit. Hey, I'm no slave to fashion and have never claimed to be cool.

Glad to hear your sister's condition is stable for the moment. Sucks about her health insurance, though. That's one of the things I really do not miss about living in the States. (But moving from Germany to the UK means I'm about to get a refresher course, I think.)

So sorry about the loss of your colleague. So many people I know have lost loved ones to cancer this year; my own mother died in May. It can be such a horrible, drawn-out way to die. It sounds like your colleague at least didn't have to endure that - and hospice does an amazing job of making the end comfortable and as dignified as possible.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I learned that if my feet are at all cold, I can't get to sleep, so I keep a pair of warm, fuzzy socks next to the bed. painless_j is doing a serious study on sock behaviour in the fandom today as well - look how timely we are with this!

Thanks for your good thoughts. Things are better this week.

[mereol.livejournal.com]

11. Say something totally random about you.

I like driving my SUV. Makes me feel tall.

Me too!

Glad sis is ok!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

And now I realize that of all the secrets I could have revealed, or the things I could have invented to make everyone jealous, this is what came to mind! How odd of me.

But it's still true! *feels very big*

Sis is doing well now, thanks

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

I saw your earlier post. Sounds like it's been a horrible few days. Glad your sis is doing OK, but OMFG, the American healthcare system is beyond belief.

Re: no. 11 (the SUV); that made me laugh a lot.

Hair? Waters of March? Have to re-read. Though, have just done this meme and I think mine was also hair related. Scary.

And no. 17 is just sweet. Me too.

you take care, now.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Even though I know you are in Paris, I'm still gonna answer this or else it'll look like I'm snubbing you on my own LJ. And I get to show off my pretentious icon once more. Voila!

[nagain.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading your "A Thousand Beautiful Things" - and it was absolutely gorgeous! I spent a wonderful afternoon completely addicted to it, unable to tear my eyes from my screen. :) It's an absolutely fabulous piece of harry/draco. :)

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! It's always a treat when someone finds me here at home - I mean LJ. I appreciate you tracking me down, and I get to use my animated icon, too.

Is it pimping too much to tell you there's a sequel to it over on Skyehawke as well? Only if you're in the mood. Oh, and a short moodly fall piece in this universe.