Dina tagged me

And then I told her that if I didn't love her so much I would totally hate her right now and she "PROMISED" me that this would be fun. I'll let you know at the end if she was right or a big fat liar.

Here are the rules:

1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention & add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other people

What is your current obsession? The same obsession I've had since childhood: discovering a mathematical pattern in every thing I see. Notice I did not say THE pattern, I said A pattern; that is because sometimes I have to make nonsense make sense so that I can stop staring and go on with my life.

What are you wearing today? Deodorant, nail polish, lip gloss, and my standard uniform of faded jeans, fitted t-shirt and a tie-dyed bandana on my head that I made. The bandana I made, not my head (but I do derive a perverse pleasure from creating a doozy of a dangling participle... and run-on sentence for that matter, but I digress...). When I leave, I'll put sandals on too. Oh and I am wearing proper undergarments that support everything just fine without any bulges or anything (which is more than I can say for a couple of my coworkers, but I won't get into that here.)

What’s for dinner? Argh the one week I don't plan my menu ahead of time... !!! I'll probably make Spicy Mushroom Bolognese loaded with the fancy schmancy Parmesan cheese my mom gave me, a salad of sliced red peppers, zucchini, cucumbers and rosemary (from the garden) tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and lots of garlic. Whichever fruit looks the best at Briley's today (probably peaches) for dessert.

What’s the last thing you bought? A subscription to RawFu magazine. Just last night. (no, I'm not a total raw foodie. No way. I love bread and pasta too much. I do eat about 80% raw though)

What are you listening to right now? Birds chirping. It's always the birds chirping. They fly into my stove exhaust through the outside of my townhouse to keep cool and feel protected. When I first moved here, I thought they were stuck, totally panicked, and removed the hood of my stove along with the fan and everything to try and get them out. This happened a few times, one of the birds flew into in my house and I put him back outside. Soon after, I realized they weren't stuck. They were probably all laughing their asses of at me.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? I just got a Dr. Bombay-esque image in my head (except I pop back with a jar of local sand rather than some inappropriately dressed nurse.) I'd hate to go somewhere I've never been and only stay one hour so I guess I'd like to revisit Newport Beach in California again. I lived there when I was a kid so that would be nice.

Which language do you want to learn? Italian

What do you love most about where you currently live? Lots of independently owned stores, plenty of grocery stores to choose from, lots of trees, the air smells so wonderful, I'm a fairly short drive from my grandma.

What is your favorite colour? The only color I can discern: Red (thank you colorblindness!)

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? My oldest pair of jeans, but I can't wear them outside anymore because the holes in the top corners of the back pocks are the size of quarters now. I can't even wear them at home unless my son is gone or I tie a shirt or sari around my waist. I also love my ultra soft and comfy "I *heart* Irony" shirt. (Blogger sucks for keyboard symbols, by the way. Can't make hearts or check marks or anything fun!)

Describe your personal style? Pretty laid back most of the time, unless some O.C.D. thing is triggered, which you won't know about because I can keep cool while my brain is freaking out. So, yeah, laid back.

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on? Well, the air conditioner in my car stopped working again and it's been in the 100's here, so I'd definitely fix that. I'd also fix the antenna so I can listen to something other than the four mix tapes Johnny and I made like six years ago (nothing against Jerry Harrison, love the guy, but damn it's getting OLD!)

What are you going to do after this? Walk to Briley's (the produce stand near my house.)

Your favorite smell? Gasoline (in case you were wondering if I really am as weird as I seem.)

Do you collect anything? Vinyl records, but for my listening pleasure so I don't care about the condition of the jacket and all that. If I like the music and the record doesn't skip, I'm a happy camper.

What makes you follow a blog? Authenticity of the blogger. I love people who are willing to just be themselves in this world and not worry about whether they sound cool or clever or whatever. Also, if a person follows me first, I will reciprocate. Because I have manners like that.

Do you like to comment on blogs or just lurk? I will comment if I feel welcome and comfortable doing so. I like to let people know that I was there and appreciate what they are sharing, but sometimes I don't comment if I notice that particular blogger never responds to me. That's the easiest way to tell if you are a welcome presence or just a nuisance, ya know. When you're usually the weird one in the room, you learn to pick up cues. lol But, that aside, if comments are enabled, I'll usually respond after I read.

What’s one thing you dream of doing? I want to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

What is your biggest regret? I only regret just enough to keep me from making the same stupid mistake again but not enough to hinder my existence. I also want to honor the growth from those mistakes. But I have to say, I wish I would have made more of an effort to visit my grandfather the weekend before the stroke that ended his life. I woke up still exhausted and called to tell him I just couldn't visit, that I would go the next weekend. The next weekend I had to visit him in the hospital. Two days later he was gone.

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day? Lie in bed. I love that line in Norah Jones' Come Away With Me "And I want to wake up with the rain falling on a tin roof while I'm safe there in your arms" Le sigh.

Do you have a tattoo? No way!

[redacting favorite books question because it is making my head explode and I listed some of them in my profile anyway]

[having difficulty replacing book question with one of my own. I'm sitting here going "what would people like to know about me?" and my answer is probably not a damn thing else. Y'all have heard enough about me to last a good long while and so I should skip this part!]

Are you left handed, right handed, ambidextrous, or a little of both? Right handed. I usually eat with my left hand though. My dad insisted that I eat with my fork in my left hand and my knife in my right. "If you want to finish your dinner, no fumbling around with the silverware!"

And the question I am adding for the next person is:

Do you play an instrument?

You know, the last couple of times somebody sent me one of these meme things, I opted not to tag anyone. Today I'm going to pass it along because 1) a few of my favorite bloggers appear to have writer's block and 2) it's always fun to get to know more about the people you like.

Tagging:
Bellona of Avalon
Julia
Sammy
Kadri
Sarah
Anna Rodriguez
Emmett (we can't let Sammy be the only boy in the group!)
Dina -- Yeah, that's right. I'm making you do this again! Because liars deserve to be punished! lol
ETA: oh, OK, I am just kidding. Dina you are off the hook.
I choose Wendy instead!

People who I resisted temptation to tag:

Ramesh - because he just answered many questions on the blog effect on journalism and I do not want to make him answer more questions, but please do stop by his blog and read his post. It's very interesting.
Johnny - you guys would love his answers, I'm sure, but he would have to create a blog to answer and I do not want to make him do that. lol
Deepak and Magiceye - because their blogs are photography themed and it did not seem an appropriate forum for a meme.

And a few others, but I need to post this so I can get my day moving.

ETA: I walked to the fruit stand this morning only to remember that it is Tuesday. Briley's is open Wednesday through Saturday. It's as if they just don't want to make money. Anyway, so then I had to drive to the supermarket where I found the most fragrant pineapple ever so it all worked out in the end.