News from the Great Beyond

Blast from the Past - Memes Redux

Today on Facebook, I took a Keirsey Temperament Type quiz - very similar to the Myers-Briggs test, but with different implications and classifications from the results.  My result?  INFJ, the Idealist Counselor - very different than the ISTJ result I got on the Myers-Briggs test I took 5 years ago and posted on the blog.

While checking the archives for my old Myers-Briggs classification, I spotted a post or two that I'd forgotten about - including this one about a long-forgotten dream that made me giggle - and a lot of meme-related madness.

This reminded me of how much I used to love those blogging memes back when I was really spending time on this, so I started browsing through some and decided I may just have to re-do a few, now that a few years have passed and many things have changed.

So, after 4-1/2 years, let's see how my MyTunes meme has changed.

Freely Associating: Of Heavy Equipment, Heath Bars, and Big Hair

That's right!  It's Unconscious Mutterings time again, for Week 213.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Nude :: Naked (lol, it's safe for work, i promise)!  Followed by... pantyhose.
2. Support :: Pantyhose?
3. Rachel :: Foster - except she's remarried now and has a different last name.  But for some reason I still think of her first husband's name first.  Hmm. :P
4. Crane :: Construction.  Couldn't be because I've worked in construction management for 9 years, no sirree bob.
5. Candy bar :: Heath.  That's not even my favorite, it's Hubby-head's.  Still, it's what I thought of first.
6. Material :: Girl  (ack!  Attack of the 80's pop music!  Oh wait, that's not all bad...)
7. Mind games :: Manipulation.  Followed by... Free association!
8. Eviction :: Homeless.  :(
9. Produce :: Fruit and vegetables.  I need to go grocery shopping, yay me.
10. Joke :: The Joker.

What do YOU think?  Check out my Meme-licious archives for past Mutterings, or see what other people have to say here.

Mytunes

I've been wanting to do this meme for a while, but between my computer problems earlier this year and my lack of time to get around to it, I never managed to... but as of today, I've finally finished re-importing all my iTunes settings to my new hard drive, and I'm a-gonna do it now.

HOW MANY SONGS?  986 - includes 19 podcasts, so make that 967.  Not too bad for a selection, actually, with a lot of variety.  There will be more as I take the time to rip more of my CD collection to MP3, and there are a ton of MP3's we have on a couple of CDs from about 5 years ago when we started fresh on a new hard drive.  I have to find those CDs and then copy them over to see what I've got there.

SORT BY SONG TITLE:
First: "40" by U2
Last: Zoom Daddy by The Swirling Eddies

SORT BY TIME:
Longest: The Calling (12:29) by Santana featuring Eric Clapton
Shortest: Bookends Theme (:32) by Simon & Garfunkel

SORT BY ALBUM:
First: Christmas is Coming by David Benoit (Album is 40 Years: A  Charlie Brown Christmas)
Last: The last one that actually has an album name is Zoom Daddy by The Swirling Eddies (from their album Zoom Daddy)... otherwise, the last in the list is an MP3 of miscellaneous clips of our pastor saying funny things or making strange noises, which one of the guys at church compiled and we used for Pastor's Appreciation Day last year.

TOP 5 MOST PLAYED SONGS:
- Lonely People by Jars of Clay
- Show You Love by Jars of Clay
- Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet by Jars of Clay
- Take Me Away by Sarah Kelly
- Please Forgive Me by Sarah Kelly
(Note, these two albums were the first I bought via iTunes and that's why the play count is much higher on them than some of the others... but I'm playing by the rules here.)

FIRST SONG THAT COMES UP ON SHUFFLE: Disappear by Jars of Clay (I have a lot of JoC in my iTunes, if you hadn't gathered that by now)

SEARCH FOR:
Sex - how many songs come up? 0
Death - how many songs come up? 0
Love - how many songs come up? 78, including all the songs from the Ray Charles compilation "Genius Loves Company"

Wanna play? Trackback this post or leave a note in my comments!

Sung to the Tune Of.... People Are Strange

Tagged for a meme!  My creature-nemesis the Wombat apparently put a bug in Harvey's ear, and I'm now compelled to tell you nice people six strange facts about myself or my habits.

The hard part is limiting myself to six - although most of the things that would come to my mind first are probably covered in that obligatory 100 Things About Me post, I believe I can come up with a few more to appease the Wombat and Harv, who appear to be in league with one another.

1) I have a very hard time falling asleep at night without the taste of fresh toothpaste in my mouth.  I'll do OK if I'm just stretching out for a nap, but if it's bedtime, I have to jump up and brush my teeth before I can really rest.  Once I've brushed my teeth for bedtime, I can't eat anything or drink anything but water or I'll lose that "fresh" feeling in my mouth and I'll have to brush again before I can sleep.

2) I still have a bag of store-brand gingersnap cookies in my cabinet that I bought for Christmas two years ago.  I keep thinking about tossing them, but I have this idea that I'll find a way to use them for something yummy, I just have to figure out what that will be.  If anyone has a recipe that involves reusing stale cookies, feel free to leave it in my comments!

3) My CD and video collections are all neatly organized and alphabetized.  My books are all over the house in no discernable order, and that fact would make me nuts if I allowed myself to dwell on it.  One of my goals for the month is to get my bookshelves organized so I can feel better about it.  That, and to get the towering stacks of to-be-read books off of the tray table in the living room so I stop worrying about one of the cats knocking them over.

4) I have never smoked in my life, but I have occasionally had dreams about smoking.  *Pondering the hidden subconscious meanings in that*

5) On my living room wall, above the fireplace, there is a 16"x24" enlargement of a photo of two of my best friends blowing bubbles by candlelight.  The faces are softly blurred and the prevailing color is a dark rosy red... and I absolutely love that picture.

6) There are times - yes, still, in 2006 - when I inadvertently give the date as 1990-something.  I must be stuck in the past decade, or at least a part of me is resisting the fact that i'm in my 30's.

All right, now that you know these strange things about me, I'm tagging three people to share my misery - I mean, join in the fun:

Susiepie - because I know she digs memes, and will probably play along...

Sissy - because if Harvey didn't tag her, someone's gotta...

Bryan - also not one to shy away from a meme, and I haven't picked on him in a while.

Time for a Meme

Hat tip to Ith... it's been a while since I've done a meme, and this one looked interesting!

3, 2, 1

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three events, two births and one death, including the year.

On July 27, we have...

Events:
1940 - Bugs Bunny makes his official debut in the animated cartoon A Wild Hare.
1974 - Watergate Scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon: obstruction of justice.
2007 - The Simpsons Movie, based on the long running television show, will be released.

Births:
1824 - Alexandre Dumas fils, French author (d. 1895)
1975 - Alex Rodriguez, baseball player

Death:
2003 - Bob Hope, English-born entertainer (b. 1903)

Tuesday's... I Mean, Monday's Top 10

Too many good things on my mind today to wait until tomorrow.  And so, this week, my not-so-regular (OK, horribly irregular) Tuesday's Top 10 meme will be held on Monday.  Deal with it.  *grin*

Top ten things that are making me smile today...

10. Pie for breakfast (yes, someone brought in a Marie Callendar's pie this morning... it was yummy)

9. I have an espresso machine on order from Costco - I'm going to learn how to make good espresso drinks at home instead of dropping $4 a pop from Starbucks.

8. The fabulous friends I've made on PaperBackSwap - this is more than a book swapping website, it's a community.  If you spend time in the forums, you will meet a variety of wonderful, generous, caring people... They have been such a blessing to me.

7. Freecycle.  I am so using Freecycle to get rid of all my extraneous clutter when I start my serious spring cleaning in a couple of weeks.  Plus, I was able to acquire about 10 or 12 plastic grocery sacks full of free books to use on PaperBackSwap from one Freecycle pickup.  If you have a Freecycle group in your area, check it out - it's quite handy.

6. Being the "official wedding photographer" for our friend B-Rad and his bride Renea this past Saturday - here's hoping that the photos turn out decent *crossing fingers*

5. The meatloaf burgers I made for dinner last Thursday... I threw together my mom's meatloaf recipe as best as I could from memory and made patties on the George Foreman grill, with the ketchup/brown sugar glaze over top and served on onion rolls.  Wow, those were good.

4. Cozy mysteries - my new favorite genre.

3. Ten days of work left, and then... possibilities galore!

2. Four words: A bag of shrimp.  More to come on that one, I'll try not to leave you hanging too long.

1. Having my home computer working again - three cheers for Hubby-head and his friend Chris!

What's hot on your list this week?

Don't Ask...

Because I don't know.   I got this from Boudicca and I don't think she knows either...

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Songstress!

1. Songstressolatry is the mindless worship of Songstress.
2. All gondolas in Venice must be painted black unless they belong to Songstress!
3. If you lie on your back with your legs stretched it is impossible to sink in Songstress!
4. Songstress is the world's smallest mammal.
5. Songstress is born white; her pink feathers are caused by pigments in her typical diet of shrimp!
6. There are 336 dimples on Songstress!
7. If you chew gum while peeling Songstress then it will stop you from crying.
8. More people are killed by Songstress each year than die in aeroplane accidents.
9. While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their Songstress.
10. The state nickname of Iowa is 'The Songstress state'!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

I ain't sayin' NOTHING.  Especially about #9.  And if anyone asks you about #8, you'd better not rat on me, or you'll see how true it is.... *wink*

Drive-by Meming

Karen of The View from My Chair has tagged me with The Meme of Four.  Sounds rather profound, doesn't it?  So, without further ado... here we go!

Four Jobs I've Had in My Life:

1. News Director for an oldies-format radio station in Carbondale, IL
2. Associate Talk Show Producer for KFYI-AM in Phoenix
3. Receptionist for the Phoenix Convention Center
4. Project Engineer for a construction management firm (herein known as CM#1 - we're #1! yay!)

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have:

1. Dead Poet's Society
2. Real Genius
3. The Princess Bride
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Four Places I Have Lived:

1. Lakewood, California
2. Phoenix, Arizona
3. Redding, California
4. Murphysboro, Illinois

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:

1. The Apprentice
2. ER
3. Emeril Live
4. What Not to Wear

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:

1. Florence, Oregon
2. Chicago, Illinois
3. Colorado Springs, Colorado
4. St. Louis, Missouri

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

1. PaperBack Swap
2. Bloglines
3. Yahoo News
4. Google

Four Favorite Foods:

1. Chocolate
2. Mashed Potatoes
3. Crabmeat
4. Cheese

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. Does sleeping count?
2. On vacation - perhaps to Ireland
3. On the beach somewhere.
4. As long as my hubby was with me, just about anywhere would do!

Four People I Am Tagging With This Meme:

1. Bryan from Spare Change
2. The Fabulous Kimmy Ramblestrip
3. Sissy of ...And What Next
4. The Newly Hitched Sarahk of mountaineer musings
5. Just in case none of these wonderful folks respond... I'm tagging YOU!  HA!

Anyone?  *crickets chirping*

Alarm Clocks? Over There...

This meme courtesy of Sissy... The title of the post is an old family joke - Mom and Big Brother will get it, and nobody else would care to try...

1.) Do you use an alarm clock to wake up in the morning?
Unfortunately, yes. Mornings are not good for me, and I'd much prefer to sleep until I wake up but that would be sometime... oh, around 10:00 or 11:00 most days.

2.) What time do you set it for?
If I'm trying to work out, 5:00 AM - the clock is 17 minutes fast so that's actually a bit before 4:45, which gives me time to thrown on some workout clothes and run a brush through my hair, and still get to the gym at 5:00. If I am not trying to work out or to get in to the office early in any way, the alarm is set for 6:00 AM. Bah.

3.) Do you hit the snooze button? If so, how many times?
The snooze button is my best friend. I hit it as many times as I can get away with, most mornings 4 or 5 times. I usually don't even realize I've woken up and hit the snooze button until the 2nd or 3rd time anyway.

4.) Have you ever abused an alarm clock?
Abused? Well, I've definitely verbally abused them. I hit them pretty hard sometimes, but I've never actually thrown one or anything.

Tag others? Yeah. Right. I haven't read any blogs in a couple of weeks, so I'm not even sure who all has done this one yet. I decided to catch up on my RSS reader from the top, and Sissy's is one of the first. Soooooo, if anyone hasn't done this meme yet, feel free to jump in and respond.

I'll try to be a better blogger from now on - just haven't had a lot to say that's fit for public consumption. You know how it goes, right?

Are you KIDDING me?

Hat tip to Warren...

My blog is worth $145,651.32.
How much is your blog worth?

Holy cow.  I'm speechless.