I feel like a Huffle-puffer at heart, but the sorting hat put me in Ravenclaw.
And I'm such a geek. I've already ordered the new Harry Potter, to be delivered to me as soon as available. And it's not out until June!
The MP3 of the audiobook is up! It is so fun, but also weird, to hear my words in someone else's voice. But it's a nice chunk of the start of The Boyfriend List, as read by Mandy Siegfried. Go to my home page and click on it to listen.
2 lists, ripped off from blog maven and teen book author Lara Zeises.
Things I Used to Be Able to Do and No Longer Can (a cheerful version, since I've read several versions of this meme and they're all rather bittersweet -- so this is more of a "no longer have to" list)
1. Survive on only $100 a week in New York City
2. Wear a DD bra (this was a temporary situation brought about by childbirth)
3. Count my lovers on one hand
4. Call myself an only child
5. Feel sorry for myself
If money, time and opportunity were no issue, what five things would you most like to do?
1. Go on a rainforest safari.
2. Get a professional massage every day.
3. Buy a bigger place to live and spend six months or a year furnishing it beautifully.
4. Own some original art by illustrators I admire: David Shannon, Dr. Seuss, Valorie Fisher, Maurice Sendak, Rosemary Wells -- my list goes on and on, fueled by Every Picture Tells a Story.
5. Spend summers in a big house by the sea, invite my friends to stay, and cook for them all.
Ten Things I've Done That Others Might Not Have
(stolen/borrowed/in imitation of Holly Black, author of Tithe. (and her list is a doozy, let me tell ya. Makes me feel like I need to get out there and do some living.)
But I HAVE
1) Tried on Captain Hook's claw. He was played by Christopher Plummer in the Sandy Duncan Peter Pan on Broadway. Long long time ago.
2) Pet a deer.
3) Posed nude for photographs, wrapped in saran wrap.
4) Been a judge at the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island.
5) Been a vegan. Or to be more accurate, a total vegetarian. 3 years.
6) Taken care of a diabetic child.
7) Shaved my head.
8) Been in a sensory deprivation tank.
9) Understood Derrida. But I've forgotten how and why, now.
10) Spent a month going every day to the old Brtitish Museum Library (picture at left), one of the most beautiful rooms ever built.
here's yet another thing to freak about about: Muffins. Thanks to Dirty Librarian for the new neurosis.
The Rock Star Name Generator tells me my rock star name is...
Earth Uranus.
I cannot think of a more humiliating and un-rock-star-ish name.
Alison Pace, who's on the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit with me (it's a kind of virtual book tour thingee where we all write books that each other's readers would probably like, and we mention them on our blogs in an exchangy kind of thing and generally get the word out),
anyway,
Alison is the author of the art-world romantic comedy If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend, which is full of globe-trotting, naughty behavior, artistic genius and love. You can buy it here. And she sent in "The (I wish he was my) boyfriend list" -- below!
I agree with her heartily about Owen Wilson (I love that broken nose) and Hugh Grant (I forgive him everything).
--E
The (I wish he was my) boyfriend list: (chronological order, list in formation)
1. Keith from The Partridge Family (because even in the 70s, I knew that Greg Brady just wasn’t that cool.)
2. Jesse, a senior in college when I was a freshman (because he thought he was a rap star, and I think I thought so, too.)
3. Owen Wilson (Ever since Bottle Rocket)
4. Hugh Grant (Ever since Four Weddings and A Funeral, and even after the unfortunate incident in the car.)
5. Dave Eggers (Only for a while, after I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)
6. Evan, this guy in my writing group (Because he told me, exhaling heavily, that writing is hard and you’re always alone, and for some reason I found this ever-so-insightful.)
7. Adam Brody (because, really, does it get any better than Seth Cohen on The O.C.? I don’t think so.)
8. Ed Helms from The Daily Show (no explanation needed)
As you MUST know by know, I can't resist a survey quizzy type thing. Or a list. And this is both!
It also reminds me of this game called "I Never" we used to play in college. Someone would say, "I never…climbed a mountain" and anyone who HAD climbed a mountain had to take a sip of beer. Of course it soon degenerated into "I never…found anyone in this room attractive" and other loaded statements of that nature.
Below, the "Did you ever…?" list. Stuff I've done is in bold.
Climbed a mountain
Been inside the Great Pyramid
Held a tarantula
Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
Hugged a tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight
Photocopied your bottom (it was clothed!)
Held a lamb
Taken a midnight skinny dip
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking -- I do this almost every day
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Had two hard drives for your computer -- and would have lost Fly on the Wall forever if I hadn't!
Visited all 50 states
Taken care of someone who was drunk
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Stolen a golf cart (we borrowed it)
Backpacked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Midnight walk on the beach
Sky diving -- almost. I took the prepatory class, but the wind was bad that day so we couldn't jump -- and I never went back
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
Visited Japan
Benchpressed your own weight
Milked a cow
Alphabetized your CDs -- no, but I file them all by genre
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Posed nude in front of strangers -- in fact, for a national magazine!
Scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Taken a martial arts class
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Loved someone you shouldn’t have
Gotten divorced
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice
Gotten a tattoo
Got flowers for no reason
Performed on stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded yourself singing
Eaten shark
Had a one-night stand
Gone to Thailand
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one/both of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
Bounced a check
Performed in Rocky Horror
Read - and understood - your credit report
Raised children
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Called or written your Congress person
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge - no, but I walk the Brooklyn Bridge every now and then
Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
Had plastic surger
Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
Wrote articles for a large publication
Piloted an airplane
Petted a stingray
Broken someone’s heart (he told my friends I did, but truly, the man never seemed to have one)
Helped an animal give birth
Been fired or laid off from a job
Won money on a TV game show
Broken a bone
Killed a human being
Gone on an African photo safari
Ridden a motorcycle (but I wasn't driving)
Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had a snake as a pet
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (didn't hike, but rafted through it)
Visited more foreign countries than US states
Eaten kangaroo meat
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the newspaper
Gotten someone fired for their actions
Gone back to school
Parasailed
Changed your name
Read The Iliad
Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read his books
Taught yourself an art from scratch – if cooking counts. Actually, I'd say I taught myself to write as well.
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
Been elected to public office
Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
Had a booth at a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Written your own role playing game (a text adventure; my cousin doing all code and me writing story)
Been arrested
