Reason #842

...that we adore San Diego.

I just saw this wickedly SCARY national weather map. AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!

Note the 66 in the bottom left-hand corner. Ahhhhhhhhhhh....

List Filler-Out-er. That's me!

I was actually a little disappointed when our Census form asked for so little information and I just needed to fill out something else! So here's another list someone sent me! [This has been unfinished and unpublished a couple months now. Oops!]

1. Name three types of people who should qualify for forced labor camps:

—People who defend the rights of richer people to have better public schools. ("Kids in the slums don't care about education anyway...." AARRRGGGHHHH!!! Get thee to Siberia!)

—That's all.

2. What was the last thing you ate?
PB&J. Seriously. :) [At the time of publication: Apples 'N Cinnamon Oatmeal. Am I still a juvenile, or what?]

3. What’s a goal you have?
Always make family first! Deliberately and thoughtfully....

4. What do you think of entertainment awards shows?
For some reason I get a HUGE kick out of the Oscars. When I was a kid I LIVED for the Grammys, but now that it's not an 80's-fest I've lost interest. :)

5. How do you want to die?
In some way and time that makes sense!

6. What is your favorite vacation/get-away spot? Where will you be traveling next?
Oh man! Favorite? Hmmm . . . . London feels like home-away-from-home. If I could go anywhere right now, though, I'd probably pick Korea again. Our next travel spot is very exotic: Wisconsin! Yeppers. You heard me right. :)

[update: home from WI! It was a good trip! :)]

7. How do you pronounce “gyro?”
YEAR-oh.

8. What have you found entertaining lately?
Seth. I mean, he's always been entertaining, but he just seems to keep getting more hilarious.

9. Do you follow any blogs of nondescript people who you don't know? Why do you follow those blogs?
I "follow" some blogs of old acquaintances. It creeps me out, though, to put them in my regular Google Reader list with people I'm actually in touch with—so I have a SECOND Google Reader account that I only check every now and then. I'm curious what they're up to since, you know, I used to know them and stuff. But I just feel insane if I get a feed too frequently of their goings-on!

10. What would you use a time machine for?
Check up on our future, just to see a few things.... :)

11. What is your favorite restaurant?
Just discovered Cafe Chloe in downtown San Diego. AWESOME French food!

12. What actors should be barred from acting?
Drew Barrymore! Keanu Reeves! Jodi Foster! And any other "actor" out there who delivers every line from every "new character" the exact same way.

13. What’s the last book you read?
I'm reading Notes from Underground again, by Dostoevsky, and My Name is Asher Lev again, by Chaim Potok. Love 'em both. (It's almost ludicrous to say I love them in the same sentence, though. I mean, Dostoevsky is way better than Potok, no matter how much I love Asher Lev.)

[Postscript: Since starting this list, I've gotten busy and lost track of both books with no pick-them-back-up time in sight. Sigh.]

14. What’s the last movie you enjoyed?
Sherlock Holmes. I'm convinced I'd love anything Robert Downey, Jr. does. Brilliant.

15. Reveal something that really bothers you.
See #1. How is the country not outraged that our public schools are locally funded? (Ok, I know why—it's because richer people think they're entitled.) It's the hugest, awfulest, most despicable injustice in our society. UN—conscionable.

16. What will it say on your gravestone?
"She transformed public schools." :) (Haha! I'd love to...!)

17. Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first three songs that come up, then explain yourself:

Yellow Lights Mean Slow Down Not Speed Up (Logh)

I have never heard this song in my life! It's kind of funny, though, because yellow lights are one of the things I have a "Rule of Thumb" about. It goes like this: if you're stopped, and the light is still yellow, you chose poorly. (Because, you see, yellow doesn't actually mean "slow down"!)

Feeling Yourself Disintegrate (Flaming Lips)

Another song I've never heard! This is the funny thing about iPods. :) I have dreams about my mouth disintegrating. And this is by the Flaming Lips...? Coincidence?

XIV. Die Kreuze (Schoenberg)

I'm scared.
What is this soprano doing?! Hahaha! Ah, Schoenberg....

(I can't hear Schoenberg without feeling transported back to the days of me and Matt and Chris hanging out together. :))

18. What is the biggest mistake you have ever made?
My biggest regret in life, no doubt, was disastrously assuming I'd just love spending four years at the college I picked. That was an error in judgment of epic proportions. A close #2 is not knowing the song Feeling Yourself Disintegrate by the Flaming Lips earlier. I'm enjoying it!

19. What kind of toppings do you generally request for your pizza?
Depends on the crust! Stadium Pizza: gotta have plain pineapple. Deep Dish Pizza Hut or something: pepperoni and olives must be involved. CPK: goat cheese and peppers, or the Thai pizza. I also love multi-cheese pizza when ricotta is involved. Mmmm!

20. Who/what would you love to have complete control over?
The Match.

21. What does your ideal Saturday consist of?
My ideal Saturday is one when Matt is home (rare), and when Sunday is more than a day away (shockingly rarer ;)). I have so much to do on Sundays that Saturday gets kind of depressing....

22. What is one skill you lack completely but wish you could master with the snap of your fingers?

Whistling! Or winking. I'm not sure which I'd enjoy more, but it's so sad to me that I'm deficient in both!

23. What's something you live in constant fear of?

Being compelled to visit Provo again. Hehe. That, or birds pooping on my head. Not a constant fear, but I can't handle birds flying over my head!

24. What was the first album you listened to non-stop, over and over again?
Ah, my cassette player.... Hangin' Tough got lots of playtime. When I think about playing something over and over, though, I'm back in my freshman-year dorm room with Hillary! We'd loop Dave Matthews, or The Scarlet Pimpernel soundtrack, lots of goodies. On repeat. For hours. (Those albums are still soooo nostalgic for me! I can smell it. I can feel the air.)

25. Have you ever seen a live, wild rat? How about a dead one?
Never a live one, I don't think...? Maybe. I don't think it would have bothered me, so I wouldn't necessarily remember. But there was a dead rat on the church patio just before church yesterday! I was there early enough to have seen it but (luckily) I had used a different door.

26. What thing have you most aggressively promoted?
Reason!

27. Is there a band or musical trend you would love to see erased completely?
Nickelback.

All country music. :)

The nasally musical-theatre voice. It emerged in the late-90s. No end in sight. (I'm hopeful that Wicked will turn the tide. Galinda's got it, but it's a farce. And Elphaba is a chest-belter, no nose. Go Elphaba! Eradicate nasally heroines!)

28. If you had to describe yourself using 3 words, what would they be?
Superlatively passionate-est. ;-) Reasonable.

29. Where is the last place that you'd see yourself living?
North Korea. Inexplicably, Matt has aspirations...! :-|

But I'd be almost as loathe to live in the desert. ;)

Or in snow again (ten years—ten!–was long enough!). I haaaattttte (that was "hate" drawn out :)) living in snow. Snow is meant to be visited. Also, not tromped on or driven in, because then it's horrifyingly messy and ugly. I'll take a drive to the mountains every now and then for some ski action, enjoy the untouched gorgeousness, and go back to 65-75 degrees, clean cars and flowers, please.

30. What was the last video you enjoyed on the internet?

Does streaming count? House Hunters International. Ahhhh....

31. What is your favorite smoothie combination?
Coconut must be involved.

32. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to your car?
The first car I had—Ralph—had been spray-painted. ;)

33. What album have you been listening to most?
The Killers playlist.

Awesome recording of Tosca.

I'm very well-rounded, as you can see. Haha!

34. What clues you into a person's idiocy?
Closed-mindedness. Or fear of "different."

35. What is your favorite store to wander through?

Probably Cost Plus World Market.