stolen, from elisem on livejournal...

What's on your bedside table?
no bedside table, bedside bookcase. on the shelves, lots of books. on the top, a lamp, some magazines, a box of toys, and more books!

What is the geekiest part of your music collection?
geeky? who knows! i do have a muppet show album, however.

What do you eat when you raid the fridge late at night?
nothing. we don't keep a lot of food in the fridge. as far as midnight snacks go, probably lemonade and an oatmeal bar.

What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie?
_truly, madly, deeply_. okay, not such a secret.

Do you have a completely irrational fear?
well, i don't think so, but other people do. for example, most other people seem to think that there's no chance in hell that dead animals are just faking it to lure me to come close enough so they can attack. how do they know, i ask you?

What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure moment?
picking at my fingers. i actually do this whenever i am tense.

Are you a pyromaniac?
not as much as i used to be!

Do you have too many love interests?
well, *i* don't think so.

Do you know anyone famous?
i know lots of authors, some with bigger name recognition than others and some with better books than others.

Describe your bed.
happy!

er, king size, relatively firm mattress. wedged into a room only slightly larger than it is.


Spontaneous or plan?
i desperately need to have a plan, which i can spontaneously modify. but i hate not having a plan.

Who should play you in a movie about your life?
there are not enough fat actresses for me to answer this question. kathy bates is right out, as is camryn manheim. (i'm way too short.)

Do you know how to play poker?
my parents taught us how to play penny ante five card draw. i like it, but i am not good enough at it to play with my serious poker playing friends.

What do you carry with you at all times?
if i'm in the house, not much. if i'm out of the house, my wallet, car keys for our cars, house keys for four different houses only one of which is mine, and usually my cell phone.

How do you drive?
a friend recently remarked that 90% of people think they are above average drivers. well, i'm in that 90%.

What do you miss most about being little?
elisem said being able to fit into very small spaces, and i agree.

Are you happy with your given name?
i like my name. my official name and my use name differ slightly (betsy is a nickname for elizabeth), but i like them both. and it aggravates me when other people's parents obviously forgot to put the e at the end of anne, which is my middle name. (uh, annb, if you're reading this, just remember that i agreed with you about what your kidlet's nickname *shouldn't* be.

How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet for one year?
i'd go crazy. i would. but i'd do it if i got to consult with my financial advisor about it to find out how much money it would take for me to get what i wanted. the kicker is that i'd have to quit my job; hard to be a techie these days without the internet.

What color is your bedroom?
a nice dark blue.

What was the last song you were listening to?
currently, every breath you take, by the police.

Have you ever been in a play?
yes, but not since junior high.

Who are your best friends?
oh, this is a dumb question.

Have you ever been in love?
oh, once or twice. ;)

Do you talk a lot?
not so much.

Do you like yourself and believe in yourself?
yes.

Have you ever done any illegal drugs?
alcohol before i was twentyone. other than that, no. (hey, none of the dealers at my college could tell me how their drugs would interact with my meds! i'm not dumb!)

Do you think you're cute?
if by cute, you mean attractive, yes, mostly. reinforcement helps.

Do poor, homeless, or starving people sometimes annoy you?
not usually.

Do you consider yourself to be a nice person?
i think i am, although i am working on being more considerate of others when i am scared or hurt.

Do you spend more time with your girlfriend, boyfriend, or your friends?
well, i spend more time with my boyfriend than with my girlfriend, and more with her than with my other friends.

What is your ideal marriage location?
if this question means wedding location, then i thought forepaugh's was quite nice and i would recommend it to people who want small weddings. if it does mean marriage location, then minnesota has been working out well so far.

Which musical instrument do you wish you could play?
electric bass.

Favorite fabric?
satin.

What kind of bedding do you use?
flannel or cotton sheets. just recently discovered the joy of all-cotton sheets. soooo worth it.

What kind of soap do you use?
free at last, by my friends kerry and stephanie.

What's the one language you want to learn?
well, i am on and off working on french at the moment. but i'd love to be fluent in russian. no, wait, nahuatl. almost totally useless for a minnesotan.

How do you eat an apple?
from the outside in.

What do you order at a bar?
used to be a rum and coke until i gave up caffeine last month. currently, i am still looking for a replacement drink.

Have you ever pierced your body parts?
not myself, but i've paid other people money to pierce them for me.

Do you have tattoos?
yup. a two in one biohazard/tribal floral piece on the small of my back.

Would you ever admit to having done plastic surgery of any kind if confronted?
uh, i expect i'd tell people.

What's one of the funniest things you've ever done?
apparently when my dad and i were coming back from russia a few years earlier, there was a very concerned party waiting for someone named ragnar and was walking around the waiting area calling for him. so, when my dad and sister were coming back from russia, i made a sign that said "RAGNAR" and brought it to the airport and held it up to greet them.

Do you drive stick?
yes.

What's one trait you hate in a person?
meanness.

What kind of watch(es) do you wear?
timex, analog, black leather strap.

Most frivolous purchase?
uh, the dogs?

Do you consider yourself materialistic?
yes, although i occasionally get streaks of "i hate all this stuff and i am giving it away!"

What do you cook the best?
i don't cook much.

Favorite writing instrument?
gel pens, with squishy bits to hold on to.

Do you prefer to stand out or blend in?
that depends.

Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?
i wear mens clothes all the time.

What's one car you will never buy?
an suv.

What kind of books do you like to read?
the ones with words in.

If you won the lottery, what would you do first?
call my financial advisor!


Burial or cremation?
cremation. then burial.

How many online journals do you read regularly?
my lj friends list, which is about 150, then a few here and there.

What's one thing you're a sore loser at?
no idea.

If you don't like a person, how do you show it?
i try not to be around them, if i can manage it.

Do you cry in front of friends?
sometimes.

What kind of first impression do you think you give to people?
aloof. this is a cover for horribly horribly shy.

What's one thing you like to do alone?
play computer games.

What's the worst thing you ever said to someone?
no idea. however, when i get ice cold furious, i am capable of saying very well formed very unpleasant yet true things.


When's the last time you cried?
last night.

Favorite communication method?
email!

What's the most painful experience you've ever had?
physical? a tossup between having injections in my knees and the operation a few years ago to remove a cyst during which i am not certain they got the anesthetic level quite right.
emotional? the obvious thing would be when my dad was in the hospital, but i was in shock the whole time, so while it was gruesomely awful and i would not recommend it, i think that it doesn't place at the top. i think what does place at the top is a relationship that i was in in college which mostly consisted of the extended remix version of "are we broken up or aren't we?"


Can you type with your eyes closed?
yes i certainly can.


Can you ski?
when i was in elementary school, i made it a life's goal to be one of the few minnesotans who died of old age never having even worn skis.

Can you speak in sign language?
i know yes, no, whatever, moose party, turtle runs into a wall, and a few obscene signs. oh, and about twenty letters of the alphabet.

Can you do the butterfly stroke?
is that the one with both arms at once? yes, but not well.

Can you say the alphabet backwards effortlessly?
i doubt it. i can start in the middle and get to the end, though.

Can you tie a knot in a cherry stem with your tongue?
never tried. i usually just collect people who can, instead. ;)

Can you run a mile in under ten minutes?
ha! no. the bit where i fall over and hurt myself in the first block of it is sort of a preventative.

Can you stand the sight of blood?
yes. i don't watch when i have blood drawn, though. but i used to work at plasma alliance which demands that you not pass out when the donors are spurting blood on the floor.

Can you read palms or tarot cards?
tarot cards.

Can you admit it when you're wrong?
yes. i hate doing it, though, because i hate being wrong.

Can you ask for help when you need it?
as a matter of fact, that's one of the things that i sell about myself in job interviews.

Can you tie a necktie?
no. my theory is that if i ever need to wear one, i have two sweethearts, both of whom know how.

Can you successfully pierce someone's ear?
define successfully. i am certainly able to make a hole through someone's earlobe!

Can you play soccer?
nope, see above running comment.

Can you sing?
yes. i am not so good at it, but i sing in the car all the time.

Can you name three kinds of clouds?
yes.

Can you make a joke out of anything?
listen, honey, my sister and i were explaining to the nurses in the hospital about how surprised my dad would be if he woke up in drag. damn near anything.

Can you perform CPR on another human?
i have been trained in cpr; i don't feel very confident in it, and i hope i never have to try my skills out.

Do you know what CPR stands for?
yes.

Can you read minds?
nope.

Can you write better poetry than Shakespeare?
nope, and not even schmoopier. shakespeare was good at schmoopy.

Can you speak more than one language?
i speak un petit peu de francais, and that's about it.

Do you know karate?
i took a karate class when i was wee. i liked it. but that was about 25 years ago, now...

Can you freestyle?
uh, what?

Elisian bonus question (feel free to add your own, if you borrow this from me):
What have you done that you are fairly sure none of your friends reading here have done?
i have flown to novosibirsk by myself.