Amazon meme

I've been seeing this around my corner of the academic blogosphere, and thought it would be fun to check. 

I made my first purchase over Amazon at the end of 2003 (and I think that's also when I got my account), and that purchase was A&E's Pride & Prejudice on DVD.  (I remember it well: Meg was tempted to bid on a used copy of it over Ebay, and I decided that maybe I should find out how much it cost new, and it turned out that it was way cheaper to get new through Amazon.)

After that, in 2004 I got the boxed set of Schindler's List (I pre-ordered it when it came out) and a book of my friend's poetry.  For the rest of the year it was all stuff for my research.  (Okay, I also got the Mighty Wind soundtrack and songbook.)

Huh.  It's funny to go back and reflect on the past six to seven years as reflected through my book and movie purchases. 

Some procrastinatory iTunes memery

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds!
There were, like, 800 questions, so I just picked the best ones.

How would you describe yourself? "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel. I'm not sure what this means.

How do you feel today? "Carol of the Bells" I don't know why I feel Christmas music today. Considering the fact that I'm taking down the tree.

What is your motto? "That's Amore!" Hooray! I think that's going to be my catchphrase now.

What do your friends think of you? "Into the Mystic," Van Morrison. No, actually.

What do you think about very often? "Joe," The Cranberries

What do your parents think about you? "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Gordon Lightfoot. Janice says that's it's appropriate that it's a really long and historical song.

What do you think of your best friend? "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," Johnny Cash.

What is your life story? "Just That Kind of Day," The New Main Street Singers (From A Mighty Wind) Well, at least it's cheerful? And sung by a neuftet?

What do you want to be when you grow up? "Baby You're a Rich Man," The Beatles. Note: I don't want to be a dude.

What do you think when you see the person you like? "Amazing Grace."

What song will they play at your wedding? "I Ran," Flock of Seagulls. I'd be a runaway bride? But I'm married!

What will they play at your funeral? "Rock and Roll Woman," Buffalo Springfield. Can someone make sure this happens?

What is your hobby/interest? "Love is all Around," The Troggs.

What do you think about love? Sister Golden Hair," America. Considering the fact that I'm already married, I'm not so sure about the whole "I'm not ready for the altar" thing. Especially after the whole "I Ran" thing.

What is your biggest flaw? "November Rain." iTunes is right! My biggest flaw is the fact that I had a Guns 'n Roses song in my iTunes! Indeed. (That was my sister's joke. "Paradise City" and "Live and Let Die" stay just where they are, thank you.)

What is your best trait? "Something in the Way She Moves," James Taylor. Truer words have never been said. You should see my shoulder-shimmying. (And that's actually a nice song to be about my best trait!)

The 2008 Meme

As seen at New Kid's and Profgrrrrl's:

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Well, I got ABD status and started a dissertation! I ran a conference. (Now I'm running through the archives of this blog and finding other firsts.) I made a soufflé. I used a neti pot. I helped a friend give birth. Drove from Victoria to Regina (I've done the reverse, but never that trip.) Attended a Roughrider game with my in-laws. Found a spider in my teakettle. Owned a barbeque. Made birthday cakes from scratch. Roasted a turkey. Spent the entire Christmas break away from Saskatchewan.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't bother with New Year's Resolutions. Well, I guess I accomplished almost everything I intended to accomplish this year (other than the trip to Germany, which will happen next year), so that's something.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Meg and Karl had Andrew at the beginning of the year, and then Mark and Terra had Elora at the end of the year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
I nearly made it a year without anyone close dying, and then Anna died just before the year was over.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just the US.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Mastery of the German language? Funding for a trip to Germany? Some real progress on my dissertation? Some form of self-discipline?

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I'm terrible at dates. I guess one that sticks out for me is January 30th, the day that Andrew was finally born. I guess also April 21st: the day I finished my comps exams.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finishing my comps exams!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Well, my lack of progress would be one.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major, beyond the usual colds, and the usual clumsy minor injuries. (This was the year I got injured while mini-golfing!)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Either clothes that fit, or a subscription to Rosetta Stone.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Ky and LynnieC! They both moved out of the province for the first time, live on their own, and started intimidating school programs. I'm so proud of both of them, because that's some scary stuff. (Now I'm worried that their sister Bronwyn will feel left out! She always deserves celebration.)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Too many public figures to even begin naming. 2008 has been a gong show.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Tuition and debt payments

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Well, all these elections sure got me fired up. If you didn't notice. Also, moving everyone to the West Coast!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I guess the whole Once soundtrack. I'll say "Falling Slowly," since that was the first one I heard (at the Oscars).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Well, compared to last year at this time, a.) I'm a little sadder, b.) a bit fatter, and d.) a touch richer, or about even?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I'd been a bit more active. I started off running, but then I fell off with that.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinating. I've lived up to my name a little too much.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas with friends.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Well, I stayed in love!

22. How many one-night stands?
Of course not!

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Either Chuck or Battlestar Galactica.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I try to avoid hate.

25. What was the best book you read?
Considering how many books I read this year, you'd think this would be easier to think of. I'm going to pick a non-academic one, the only new-to-me-non-academic-book I read all year: Home from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Did I make any musical discoveries this year? I guess, since I was behind the trend on hearing Glen Hansard and now I'm listening to him quite a bit, that would be one.

27. What did you want and get?
ABD status. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on DVD. Ky living in the same city as me.

28. What did you want and not get?
Greater financial security?

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Mamma Mia!

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
On my actual (28th) birthday, I went to a nice restaurant with Christopher and we tried to spend as much of our $100 gift certificate (which we won) as possible.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Already knowing German by now. If I could have spent less of the year paralyzed by anxiety.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Trouser-legged pants have changed my life.

33. What kept you sane?
Christopher, of course. Well, he kept me the right kind of insane. Also tea. Litres and litres and gallons of tea. And the Vinyl Cafe podcasts, which were what would keep me calm when I was feeling panicky about my exams.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Why can't I think of this one off the top of my head? I need Ky around for this one. Considering the series of movies that Chris and I just watched, apparently it would be Colin Firth, or maybe Alan Rickman. Chris says "Tina Fey," which is I think his answer for what I would say?

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Apparently the coalition issue?

36. Who did you miss?
My family.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Hm. Who did I meet in 2008? I'm going to go with wee Andrew. Because he's ten kinds of awesome.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
I'm happiest when I work deliberately and take breaks deliberately, without the fuzzy in-betweens.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

What the h? I have to come up with a song lyric? I guess since this has been the year I've been working on and facing my anxieties:

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future, as in ages past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Everyone seems to be tagging each other these days

Among the bloggers I know IRL, they all seem to be doing this "seven random/weird things" meme lately. My cousin-ish Jen (I think we're actually third cousins, but we refer to her grandparents as "uncle and auntie") tagged me for this one. I'm going to cheat a little and won't tag seven people, because that's just too many people for me to think of right now.

Also, I'll go with "seven mildly weird things about me that I don't think I've told you before," since I don't know if I can come up with seven facts that are entirely "random." Most of them will probably be confessions.

1. Confession: I have a weird weakness for the movie Something's Gotta Give. It's actually on TV right now, playing in the background as I read. Meg and I watched it when we lived together, over a tub of hummus and a bunch of pita bread and vegetables, and spent the whole time rooting for Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves to end up together.

2. When I watch TV, I mute the commercials (since we don't have anything like Tivo to skip the commercials for us). I've been doing that for a year, since we spent those weeks staying with our friends. Their daughter Becky always mutes the commercials and I found that it was much nicer that way.

3. I only eat Tic Tacs in multiples of two.

4. My memory is so bad that I can actually hide things from myself on purpose. I used to hide the last of my Halloween candy around my bedroom, so that it would last longer. And I would be honestly surprised when I would find it.

5. In fact, there are bags of Halloween candy in a drawer of my filing candy cabinet (why yes I am usually distracted by the thought of candy, and that is why my forgetting that it exists in my house is all the more amazing!). I usually forget it's there.

6. Like Kate, I frequently make the oddest and most random noises, especially when I'm alone and trying to work. Or when I'm waking up. Unlike Kate, my noises are nothing so normal as cat noises. They're more noises like "Blerk!" or "Bazoooooooo!" or "Beees!" or "Eeeep!" Also, sometimes I make loud opera singing sounds. It used to frighten Christopher.

7. The hardest time that I have with my allergies is not being allowed to eat seafood, carrying an epi-pen with me, or being pressured by my doctor to give up dairy. No, the hardest part about my allergies is not being able to pet kittens. Seriously, I love kittens. And I get so sick whenever I pet them.

Some procrastinatory memery

I'm heading up-island for my conference again! But Marc tagged be with the book meme and I can't remember if I actually did it before. It'll also be some nice escapism for me, because I don't get to read any fun books (non-comps books, at least) yet. My rule with this one, as always: my answer can't be "The Bible." Because that very easily could have been my answer to #1, #2, #3, #5 and #8.

1. Name one book that changed your life.
I'll have to say Catherine Marshall's Beyond Ourselves. I first discovered it when I was teenager. It was at my grandparents' house during a holiday visit when we all were coming to terms with the fact that my grandfather was really deteriorating with his Alzheimer's. I slept through an entire day, just avoiding everything, and then woke up after everyone else was asleep. I wandered the house, looking for something to do, and I found this book. And then read most of it that night. She starts it saying something along the lines of "If you're already completely satisfied with the way your life is right now, put this book down. It's not for you." I end up re-reading it periodically, pretty much any time I'm going through change in my life.

2. Name one book you have read more than once.
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Seriously, I've read that book roughly a zillion times. I can't get enough of it.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
Hm. I'm going to say Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, because I remember that it took me roughly a million years to read it but I loved it. I've been meaning to re-read it, and it would take a desert island stay to get through it, it seems.

4. Two books that made you laugh.
The Making the Cat Laugh part of my Lynne Truss Treasury
Son of Interflux by Gordon Korman

5. One book that made you cry.
Catherine Marshall's A Man Called Peter. (Also her book Julie. But not Christy because I always get confused at the end when it's all "in his voice was the voice of the children" or whatever that means.)

6. One book you wish you’d written.
Modris Ecksteins's Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age. I just love how he frames books so much.

7. One book you wish had never been written.
Something like Mein Kampf? I'm not very "I wish it had never been written" when it comes to books.

8. Two books I am currently reading.
Well, I'll be done them by the end of the night, but I'm scanning over Jay Winter's Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning and Peter Gay's Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider right now.

9. Five people that I tag.
Hm. Now I get to think of who hasn't written this one yet, or hasn't written it lately. Ky, Kate, Janny, Anastasia and the very-soon-to-be Dr. Styleygeek.

The class meme I've been seeing around

I first heard about it from Lucy, and then saw it at Anastasia's, and now Trillwing's done it too! I find this one fascinating, especially in light of the discussion Anastasia has provoked about class and academia.

I went back and added the word "positively" back into question #12, because that word seemed to disappear somewhere along the line from when I first read this one a few weeks ago.

Bold the statements that are true.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. (Unless my Grandma's cousin counts!)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (I sat down and tried to figure it out, and I think that between scholarships and that summer job I had, I managed to pay for half of my undergrad myself.)
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (nope, only hand-me-down cars)
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home (paid it off when I was six)
25. You had your own room as a child (my sister and I shared for a few years)
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course (does that exist in Canada?)
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (I was 22 the first time I flew in an airplane.)
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

16/34 I admit that I had a pretty comfortable childhood, too.

QoWP: The Required Reading

I was talking with Derek last night, and he said that he'd made Ariann watch High Fidelity while keeping in mind that she would understand him better as a result of watching the movie. That got me to thinking: what would be the required reading/watching/listening for understanding me more fully?

(I gave Derek the same challenge, and so you may see his response in the next while.)

I think there are two ways to approach this question: you can list the works that had a formative influence on you, or you can list works that describe you well. And I think I'll go with a combination of both.

Required Reading:
The formative books:

• Emily's Quest by L. M. Montgomery
• The Blue Castle, LMM
• Anne of the Island, LMM
• Little Women, L.M. Alcott (in addition to the most recent film version)
• Summer Gone, David McFarlane
• Beyond Ourselves, Catherine Marshall
• Philip Yancy's Where is God When It Hurts?

To understand the way in which I analyse people these days, you probably would also need to read something like The Five Love Languages.

Academic Reading:

• Remembering war: the Great War between memory and history in the twentieth century, Jay Winter.
• Rites of Spring, Modris Ecksteins.

Required Listening:

• Side B of Simon and Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
  
• Cat Steven's Teaser and the Firecat
• Joni Mitchell, "Free Man in Paris" and "River."
  
• The entirety (until the instrumental ending) of the Christian compilation Streams. (Probably to act as background to a reading of Where is God When it Hurts?)
  
• You'd probably need to listen to Janis Ian's "At Seventeen", at least to understand my teenaged self.
• And then counter-balance it with India.Arie's "Video."
• And finally the Association's "Along Comes Mary."
  

Required Viewing (mostly formative):

• At least an episode of season 1 or 2 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
• Hello, Dolly! but you'd have to sing along while watching it, to get the full effect.
• Also: Oklahoma! but you'd have to dance along with "Many a New Day."
• Breakfast at Tiffany's
  
• You've Got Mail (mostly it justified any quirkiness that I have, and especially how disgusting I am when I have a cold: it can re-define all of that as "cute").
  
• Out here, people really would have to watch a few episodes of Corner Gas to understand most of anything that Chris and I say. And, really, everyone should watch the cartoon of Robin Hood to understand anything that my cousins and I say to each other.
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, but not their Bogus Journey.
  

What about you? What would you recommend for your required reading/viewing/watching?

And then I swear I'll get to work

Bronwyn tagged me for a meme, and so I obey the meme.

These are the instructions:

TO DO:
List 5 things you do, did or like that some may consider “totally lame,” but that you are totally proud of. And then Tag 5 others.

1. I slept with a teddy bear until I got married. Her name is Lizzie and I got her for Christmas when I was 6 years old. Whenever Chris goes away overnight, I dig out Lizzie so that I can hug her. (I still hug my blankets in my sleep, because my back and arms are just used to having that cushioning.)

2. Seriously, nothing makes my day better than making borscht or banana bread really well. (I just tried out the Joy of Cooking's banana bread recipe, and it's the best thing ever.)

3. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm really really into movie musicals. And not so much the ones that other people find cool. I watch movies written by Rogers and Hammerstein or starring Barbara Streisand. I also dance along with "Many a New Day" in Oklahoma!

4. One of my favourite Christmas albums is Barbara Streisand's Christmas.

5. There are a few restaurants where I order the exact same thing every single time, and have done so since I was a child. At McDonald's, it's the 6 piece McNuggets with honey; if I'm really hungry, I up it to 9 pieces of McNuggets. (I don't actually know what a McDonald's hamburger tastes like, but I don't want to know.) At Swiss Chalet, it's the quarter chicken dinner with a Shirley Temple (a drink that is only on the kids' menu). At Pizza Hut, I only ever order stuffed crust pizzas (and have done so since they were invented), even though they make me ill.


So, I'm supposed to pick five people? I'll go with Ky, Anastasia, Styleygeek, Dixie and Kate. There. That's a good mix of bloggy and real-life friends.

Because it cracks me up

...and because my brain is too tired for original thoughts right now. I saw Anastasia and Profgrrrrl do this quiz, and that made me curious. According to my interests, I should be considering the following careers:

1.	Anthropologist
2.	Professor
3.	Clergy
4.	Sport Psychology Consultant
5.	Psychologist
6.	Music Teacher / Instructor
7.	ESL Teacher
8.	Rehabilitation Counselor
9.	Foreign Language Instructor
10.	Historian
11.	Actor
12.	Corporate Trainer
13.	Special Effects Technician
14.	Computer Trainer
15.	Mediator
16.	Criminologist
17.	High School Teacher
18.	Director of Photography
19.	Director
20.	Set Designer
21.	Costume Designer
22.	Recording Engineer
23.	Child and Youth Worker
24.	School Counselor
25.	Probation / Parole Officer
26.	Marriage and Family Therapist
27.	Motivational Speaker
28.	Social Worker
29.	Activist
30.	Genetic Counselor
31.	Comedian
32.	Casting Director
33.	Addictions Counselor
34.	Critic
35.	Humanitarian Aid Worker
36.	Musician
37.	Writer
38.	Political Aide
39.	Print Journalist
40.	Public Relations Specialist

So, anthropology rather than history? Too bad I actually like history better. But I think I got this result because I'm so people-oriented (see: all the counselor-related careers also on the list.)

If you want to try this one out, you go here, enter in the username "nycareers" and the password "landmark".

Nothing really surprising here

As seen at Anastasia's:

I was also at 40% for Bodily/Kinesthetic, but they dropped the bottom one off of the profile.

(If you want to see something else unsurprising, check out Chris's personality profile.)

I'm only a little weird...

I forgot that Derek tagged me ages ago to list six weird facts about me. Let's see if I can come up with six. (Okay, or "let's see if I can come up with six that I haven't already admitted a million times on this blog." I obsessively disclose details about myself here, and so this might be a challenge.)

1. I talk in silly voices when I'm on the phone with various friends and family members. They're sort of half-imitations of that person. Seriously, Chris can tell who I'm talking to, based on the silly voice.

2. I worry a lot about what people working at movie rental stores think about me. A lot. (This has resulted in many superfluous rentings of "smart" or "cool" movies, to offset the stupid, possibly-starring-Pauley Shore movie that I'm really intending to watch.)

3. I picked up from Becca the habit of making strange noises when I'm stretching while waking up in the morning. Mostly, I sound like a baby raptor. (Or what I imagine a baby raptor sounds like.)

4. I obsessively need high fives from people. I crave high fives. I love high fives. And no one high-fives me here. When I am around Ky (who also obsessively needs high fives), we will spend a good half an hour high-fiving each other. (Okay, I just pointed out other people's idiosyncrasies in the past two confessions. I apologise.)

5. I pretend to have good taste in music, and to be all snobby about my vinyl collection, but I love me some show tunes. I really, really do. Maurice Minnifield is my musical soulmate.

6. A surprising quantity of my regular sayings are derived from the Disney cartoon of Robin Hood. Also from the 1980s live action Alice in Wonderland.

Meme-ing as Distraction: Five Questions

The lovely Pink Cupcake has provided me with some lighter blog fodder: five personalised questions to answer! And these questions are fantastic.

If you were a super-hero and could have any special power, what would it be? This is, of course, my favourite question to ask students. I would have to say that I would like to be able to stretch my arms as Elastigirl can. Think of all the potential for my laziness! That trip to the kitchen that I just made, to refill my bowl of tortilla chips? I could have sat here on this chair, still staring at this screen, and reached to the kitchen to get those chips.

As well as being the Queen of West Procrastination you also have a reputation as being the Queen of Tea, what's your favourite tea right now? Now, I would contend that Meg is perhaps the true Queen of Tea (and I just her lowly handmaiden), but I will accept the honour. Right now, my favourite tea is the Pear Oolong from the Vancouver store T. I just ran out, and this tea is haunting my dreams. It's that good. (Note: if anyone is going to be in Vancouver anytime soon, and then will be anywhere near the Island, please pick me up some more tea! It costs so much more to have it shipped!)

Apart from missing family and friends, what was the most striking difference that you noticed when you moved across the country? Good question. While there were a number of shocking differences (the tendency of the entire male population to go shirtless as soon as the temperature rose above a comfortable temperature, the absolute ubiquity of iPods and cell phones in public places, the tendency of the entire female teenaged population to dress absolutely the same, in this West Coast style that I'm still adjusting to), the most striking difference that I first noticed was the attitudes towards shopping. There is an idealism here that I have never seen anywhere else. The "shop locally" mentality is so entrenched that small, independant stores thrive as I've never seen anywhere else in Canada. The "buy organic" mentality is so prevalent that I have to avoid mentioning to people that I normally buy whatever's cheapest at Superstore and the Real Canadian Wholesale Club. (Evil Loblaws!) (Except for when I'm supporting the sweet little stores down the street!) While I have also encountered a section of the population that economises as I've never seen anyone economise before, there's this major force (especially at the University) that cares not how much they spend on food, as long as it's produced ethically, and/or locally. I've never encountered anything like it before. (The funny thing is that, whereas back home Starbucks is seen as the evil empire that is out to destroy our local coffee shops, here Starbucks is mostly beloved.)

What was your favourite childhood toy and do you still have it? My favourite childhood toy was my stuffed polar bear named Lizzie. I hugged Lizzie every night from the time I got her (I think it was Christmas 1986) until I got married. And, when Chris went to Anaheim for a week, I brought back Lizzie. I also kept her with me after Grandma died. So, yes, I still have her.

What do you think is your best quality? That's a hard question for me to answer about myself. I can come of with a pretty sizable list of my worst qualities in a hurry. (For goodness sake: this blog's devoted to one of my worst ones!) While I'm not always the most consistent or reliable friend, I think that I'm pretty good at getting people talking and making them examine themselves. And I think part of that is that I'm pretty good at caring about people.

Now, Pinky offered to ask people five questions to continue this. I will try to do this, although I'm not feeling very creative. If you want some questions to answer, e-mail me at westprocrastination(AT)gmail(DOT)com. (I just got the e-mail account! But after I signed up for Beta, and now I wish I could make it my Blogger sign-in account!)

Really Long Music Meme

Amanda tagged me for this one, and I may end up working on it off and on for a while.

Name your top 10 most played bands from your music library (I'm doing this with iTunes, and so this doesn't include the bands that I listen to on CD or vinyl, which accounts for the lack of Carole King, Cat Stevens, Don Maclean, and the Beatles):

1. The Cranberries
2. Simon and Garfunkel
3. James Taylor
4. Edith Piaf
5. Eva Cassidy
6. Amanda Marshall
7. (I'm skipping over a few artists where I only really listen to one song of theirs -- Merrilee Rush, Prelude, Bill Williams, a whole group from Lillith Fair that sang "The Water is Wide"...) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
8. Dido
9. Jude
10. Gypsy Kings

What was the first song you ever heard by 6?
The first song of hers that I really noticed was "I'll Be Okay." And it's still, by far, my favourite.

What is your favorite album of 2?
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. I could listen to Side B of that album forever. It's just so brilliant, beginning with "The Dangling Conversation" and ending with "Silent Night/7 O'Clock News." It's just perfect.

What is your favorite lyric that 5 has sung?
This is an odd one, because everything I've ever listened to of Eva Cassidy's are covers of other people.

How many times have you seen 4 live?
Once we get that time machine working...

What is your favourite song by 7?
"Carry On," by far. It was the B side to "Teach Your Children Well," and I can't stop listening to that song. I love the harmonies, and the part where the bass line suddenly gets funky. It's kind of like "Band on the Run," how it's like a bunch of songs in one.

What is a good memory you have involving the music of 10?
Working with Ky in my office here, while listening to my whole Study Music playlist. We kept freaking out about how good the music was. And that list was dominated by the Gypsy Kings, as well as Baka Beyond, Alabina and the Buena Vista Social Club.

Is there a song of 3 that makes you sad?
Ha! It's James Taylor. Seriously: I think he's constantly intending to make you sad. Such as "Fire and Rain." Chris couldn't listen to that song when I was going to be taking a plane trip around the world, because of the line about the plane crash.

What is your favorite lyric that 2 has sung?
Okay, that's better now. Favourite lyric by Simon and Garfunkel would probably be from "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her" (again, from Side 2 of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme). "And when you ran to me/Your cheeks flushed with the night/We walked on frosted fields/Of juniper and lamplight/I held your hand."

How did you get into 3?
Between the music I'd listen to with Ky on roadtrips and watching Remember the Titans, it was like I couldn't get enough of James Taylor for a while. I looked up a bunch of his music, and would get "Sweet Baby James" stuck in my head for days at a time.

What was the first song you heard by 1?
I'm really not sure. You know, it must have been on Empire Records, because I clearly knew the words to a few of the songs by the time I was listening to tapes of theirs with May-B, Ky and Lyn on road trips. In that place, it was probably something like "Look" (which I, sadly, thought was about someone named "Luke.")

What is your favorite song by 4?
Right now, it's "Mon Amant de Saint-Jean." Mostly because I'd feel cheesy if I said "La Vie en Rose."

How many times have you seen 9 live?
Jude? I wish.

What is a good memory you have involving 2?
Glad there are so many questions about #2. Maybe all the fun conversations I had with the guy at the used book and record shop about my collection of records, and why it wasn't enough that I only owned Sound of Silence on CD. Okay, and also the time I introduced Ariann to the "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." She'd seriously never heard the song before, and was so excited about it.

Is there a song of 8 that makes you sad?
Ha! Again: isn't that the point of Dido? Right now, "Mary's in India" makes me sad, for some reason. Oh, and "My Lover's Gone".

What is your favorite album of 5?
Probably Time After Time.

What is your favorite lyric that 3 has sung?
"Lord, the berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting/With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go" from "Sweet Baby James"

What is your favorite song of 1?
"No Need to Argue," by far. Wow, do I love that song.

What is your favorite song of 10?
"El Mariachi"

How many times have you seen 8 live?
Again: I wish. (I'll clarify that I've seen none of this list live. Seriously, I haven't seen that many live.) Well, I saw Jann Arden, unlike May-B. :)

What is your favorite album of 1?
You know, I think I'd have to say No Need To Argue.

What is a great memory you have considering 9?
Ah, sitting around Ky's living room, over-listening to "I Do" and getting artistically depressed.

What was the first song you heard by 8?
Of course it was "Thank You," which everyone was playing for so long. I didn't really become a fan until I heard "Here With Me" on Love, Actually and Meg and I started looking up all her music and singing all the harmonies.

What is your favorite cover by 2?
A cover by Simon and Garfunkel? Maybe "Go Tell It On the Mountain," because off the top of my head it's the only song of theirs that I can think of that they didn't write? Actually, I answered too many questions about #2, and so I'm going to pretend that it asked for #7, in which case I'm torn between their fantastic rendition of "Blackbird," and "The Times They Are A'Changin'"

Okay, that wasn't so bad, and that got me listening to my iTunes. (Except that got me listening to things not on the list. Right now I'm listening to Phil Ochs singing "The Dance." I love that man. Also, I did not see him in concert. As he died when my parents were like in high school.)

I'm going to take the wimpy way out and say that you're tagged if you want to fill this one out. Actually, I'm going to insist that Derek do this one, because it's right down his alley.

Five Exciting Things Meme

Dr. T tagged me to list five exciting facts about me. I don't know that there's much that is exciting, but:

1. I now own the following clothing items with some kind of Batman or Batgirl logo or picture: one touque (aka knitted winter hat, or whatever Americans call them), three t-shirts, one cape. I also own a Batgirl Barbie. I think I have a superhero complex. No, wait: that's a dorky fact about me.

2. I can touch my nose with my tongue. (Creepy fact about me.)

3. I knew more about Canadian geography than my first fourth-grade teacher, before she got fired. (She claimed there were twelve provinces. This had nothing to do with her getting fired.) Then, I had to tell my second teacher that "Manitoba" didn't have an "e" in it. Both of them made me go to the school library to prove myself. (Depressing fact about my education.)

4. I've only had three bedrooms in my whole life. My bedroom at my parents' house, My bedroom in Meg and my apartment, and my bedroom here. (Boring fact about me.)

5. I was once interviewed for the news. For the CBC, in fact. And they took the one soundbite that actually contradicted everything else that I had said. I don't think I'll allow anyone else to interview me, after that. They also filmed me walking around and taking books out in the library, for filler footage for voice-overs. It was awkward.

D

As seen all over, but most recently at Lucy's where she assigned me the letter D! I'm supposed to come up with at least ten of my favourite things that start with the letter "D." This may be difficult, because for some reason I'm blanking out on words that start with "d."

1. Dad! My dad's particularly awesome. Seriously, all of my friends who know him always mention how much they love him. He's the best dad ever.
2. Ducks. They're pretty fun to watch.
3. Documentary-style filming. Like on Arrested Development or Battlestar Galactica or The Office. Or in Christopher Guest movies. My favourite part is when there's a close-up on someone, and then suddenly crashes in for a slightly closer close-up.
4. Dorkiness, such as wearing Mickey Mouse ears while working. Not that I'd ever do that. Or am doing that right now.
5. Dictionaries! And especially the OED.
6. Dairy products, even though I'm not supposed to eat them. But especially cheese.
7. Dairy farmers, but especially my Grandpa and my Uncle Phil.
8. Dresses and dressing up. Somehow, wearing a dress always makes my day.
9. Darjeeling tea, but especially the grape darjeeling that Meg once bought for too much money and that we only drank on special occasions.
10. Daria. That show ruled.
11. Dixie, who I'd like to be when I grow up.
12. Doodling and 13. daydreaming when I'm supposed to be working.
14. Dana! My hilarious sister-in-law, who is very far away in Ireland right now.
15. Derek! Because he'd be all "Hey! My name starts with D! How am I not on your list!" if I didn't include him, and now he'll notice that I added this one later, and that he's number 15 on my top ten, and he'll analyse it way too much. And that's why we love him.

I'm sure I'll end up coming up with more once I hit "publish." Does anyone else want a letter?

Procrastinatory Meme-ing

I've seen this one everywhere, but most recently at May-B's place.

I'm supposed to record the first sentence of the first blog post of every month this year. This will be interesting:

January: [This one got recorded as the last blog post of the year, but it really was after midnight] How I rang in the New Year: since I had to leave Mike & Julia's party early (so that I could pack and get some sleep), I spent it packing, while listening to "This Year" by Chantal Kreviazuk.
February: Time: 10:37am
March: I'm in the PhD office again, desparately trying to make myself read about state size and GNP in nineteenth century Europe.
April: I'm buried under essays, at the moment.
May: Yesterday I had a bad headache.
June: Today more than amply makes up for yesterday.
July: Minions of the Queendom of West Procrastination!
August: Janny linked to this article, and I'm still not wrapping my mind around any of this news: http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/08/01/stone-second-regina.html
September: This is the Saturday of a weekend that I've traditionally spent outdoors in Northern Saskatchewan.
October: Chris and I use our blender a lot.
November: Before I descend into a sugar coma of Swedish Berries and Tootsie Rolls, I'll share with you a a highlight of the Procrastination Household's Halloween: aren't they pretty? [That was the entire post! Well, minus picture of candy apples.]
December: For some reason, December always takes me by surprise.

In twelve sentences, that's a pretty good summary of my year. Okay, and now I'll finish that essay!

Since I've been tagged and all...

PhDLadybug tagged me to list five songs that describe how I'm feeling, including one Christmas song. This has taken some thinking, because I'm such a jumble of emotions right now: relieved that there isn't someone currently masquerading as Chris out there, looking forward to my birthday, dreading homework, feeling homey and like doing a bunch of baking.* With some of the usual, deep-down troubled feelings.

1. For a Christmas song, I'm torn between "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," with that incredible longing that's in it, and Boney M's "Mary's Boy Child," mostly because Boney M Christmas music makes me feel like busily preparing for Christmas (because my brother and I usually listen to that record while decorating the tree).

2. Describing my procrastination - "Je ne veux pas travailler," Pink Martini. (And it shall get stuck in Meg's head...now.)

3. "Feels Like Home," Chantal Kreviazuk, especially because Chris was just home all morning and it was so nice and homey.

4. "This Year," Chantal Kreviazuk (I know.) Because it's so optimistic about the approaching year. And I'm actually feeling optimistic right now.

5. "Take My Life," by mnw (Monday Night Worship). (Chorus: "And I can't wait to be free/ of this life of mindless sin/ that compromises me./ I know, some day I will be...") Again, more longing. This time, with frustration with my human nature, ability to waste so much time, and entire lack of faith that I should entirely fall apart at the first hint of something bad possibly happening. You know, the usual.

No one will ever ask me to describe how I'm feeling again.

Oh, I'm supposed to tag two people: I think I'll tag May-B, because she answers these sorts of things so well, and because it's funny to ask her to describe her feelings in terms of Christmas music. (Of the sisters, LynnieC=Christmas, and May-B=Halloween. I'm not sure if Ky gets super into any holidays, actually.) And I think I'll tag Anastasia, because I'd be really interested to hear what music she'd come up with.


* Baking update: I did the cookies yesterday, and they turned out fantastically, and I'm doing banana bread today. Banana bread was Chris's choice, and I'll tell you how it turns out. Although now I'm tempted to try Wolfa's 18-hour no-knead bread, which sounds awesome.

Then why can't I get motivate myself to get reading right now?

As seen at Lucy's...

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

It helps that I'm currently reading lots of scholarly non-fiction (mostly out of print), and that my floor sags with the weight of my bookshelves. I was just amused because apparently my reading habits mark me as a PhD student.