Six Random Things about Me

I got tagged for a meme by PeppyLady and since I haven't done one in a long time and since it seemed like it might be a way to stop obsessing about politics for a wee while, I thought I'd go with it.

Here are the rules (I'm ignoring #s 4 & 5):

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Yikes... Now I have to think of something to say. Hmmmm... Ok... This is hard....

Random Thing # 1: I love rocks. When I still lived in NYC and when I was still able to leave the house, my therapist's office was right across the street from a place called Astro Minerals. They had a back room where you could get some pretty cool rocks for almost no money. And because I visited them every week and often talked other people into buying stuff, they were very fond of me and gave me really good deals. Best deal ever. My amythyst geode which I got at cost. I have dragged its gorgeous tonnage from New York to Arizona to Lake Huntington, NY to Narrowsburg, NY (up a flight of stairs) to Callicoon and now to its and my own (I hope) final resting place here in Hancock. I made a collage of some of my rocks. It didn't come out very good but it did take me almost all day. Agh. It's huge. If you click on it, you can see it in all it's enormosity. (I know enormosity is not a word, but I think it ought to be.)

Random Thing #2: I have a half written children's book that I'd really like to finish. It's called AMANDA AND THE COOKIE WITCH and is aimed at pre-teen girls. I also have a couple of books for younger children that star Charlie and Sadie, my Cindy's dogs and their magic hole. So far they have visited China and Hawaii. I have a visit to Africa half finished and about two sentences of a visit to Australia. I need inspiration. I need ambition. I need an agent. If anyone has a daughter that age or is just a glutton for punishment, I'd love some thoughts on whether I'm on target for that age group.

Random Thing #3: I love books, but I recently decided to give away a great many of my books to the local school library. So far, Mrs. Law, the delightful librarian from the school, has taken about six boxes. I gave her all my parents art and nature books, all my Hermann Hesse, the Ring trilogy and a host of other items. In the next round, I will probably give her my Harry Potter's, though my inner child is kind of pissed about that. I'm not likely to read most of my books again and I'm not physically able to care for them properly. It just seems right that they should be in available to the young (or old) and curious. It's interesting what books I can't let go of. Chaucer, PG Wodehouse, most of my poetry books and much (but not all) of the more esoteric things. I was really thrilled that Mrs. Law was open to pretty much everything I had to offer. Cool.

Random Thing #4: My really, really kind friends, Nate and Dan are going to give me some new furniture. Nate's sister is giving them furniture so they are giving their furniture to me. My current decor is a not very comfortable sofa that I found on the porch when I moved into my apartment in Callicoon, an oversized end table that somebody else didn't want and an oversized chair (that I still love) from my old days in NYC. I desperately want a new TV. Even if I shouldn't, if I can possibly swing it, I REALLY want a flat-screen TV. I'm going to put it into my center bookshelf. I had a 22 year old TV which needed 30 minutes to warm up before the picture came on and flickered oddly and wasn't very good. Nate and Dan again came to my rescue with something the neighbors were getting rid of. It's old too but not as old and more importantly, it works. So I'm very lucky. Still, I REALLY want a digital, flat screen TV.... and maybe to move up from 20 inches to 26. Wouldn't that be awesome! We will see. I'm hoping that the prices will go down significantly in January or February. Of course the economy may kill my dream, but maybe not. I'll just keep dreaming it.

Random Thing #5: I was a music major when I started college. Major on the clarinet, minor on the piano. I flunked out of music in part because I was too shy to have anyone hear me play (some musician). What I did get out of my time as a music major was discovering that I'm not a tenor but a soprano. I sang with the New York Choral Society at one time... lasted through the concert with Peter Paul and Mary at Carnegie Hall before my self doubt again conquered the joy of being part of something so delightful. I was lucky enough to have a piano for most of my life until I moved to Arizona. Now I am without one. I miss it.

Random Thing #6: Six of my favorite movies (probably) are Babette's Feast, A Passage to India, The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Poet's Society, The Majestic, and Sense and Sensibility. And bunch of my favorite books are: Harry Potter Series, PG Wodehouse's Jeeves books, A Hundred Years of Solitude, Mother Night (well all of Vonnegut), Jane Austin's books, Cry the Beloved Country, Herman Hesse's books, Chopra, Louise Haye, Immanuel's Book, ok... it's a long, long list... that's more than enough.

So... this is way more than anybody needs or wants to know, but I figured if I was going to share, I might as well share for real and not tell you six things you have probably already figured out about me. So that's my meme entry and I'm not looking back. (eeek.) I'm refuse to tag anyone, but if anyone feels like tagging yourself, please let me know so I can visit and read. Which reminds me of a seventh random thing about me. I'm an awful visitor. It's not because I don't care. I'm just not very well organized so there are two or three people whose blogs I have set up in my side-bar and my head and I visit them all the time and others whose blogs are wonderful who I don't. It's not because I don't care. I'm just badly organized and easily distracted.

Two Memes

I'm playing hooky from The Alphabet Backwards again this week. Up (down?) to the letter E but I'm just having a hard time focusing on anything much today. Tomorrow the tree people come - finally - and chop down the remaining half of the 60 foot pine that was struck by lightning. They take it down by climbing up it and cutting the top off a bit at a time. The thought of this very angst-producing for someone like me. I will be glad when all this is over. It has been a long glitch-filled process getting this far. Barring weather delays or some new problem, it should come down tomorrow. I'll be sad but relieved. I hate to see it go, but I also hate worrying every time the wind blows that it will fall on the neighbors' house. So anyway, a couple of people have memed me (is that a word?) and I thought I'd go with that today.

Meme #1

Roan, from Rubbish by Roan has tagged me for a book Meme.

Here are the rules.
1.) Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2.) Open the book to page 123.
3.) Find the fifth sentence.
4.) Post the next three sentences.
5.) Tag five people.

The first book I tried was AMISH GRACE, but page 123 was a chapter page and had only 2 words on it, so.... the next handy book was HUMAN OPTIONS by Norman Cousins.

The three sentences are as follows:

She taught us that the human spirit is life giving, dimensionless, omnipresent. She taught us that the smallest fractions can open out into a great whole. I have never known a more gracious, noble or lovable human being.

Ok... I'm a really bad person to tag for memes for two reasons. I really hate rules. So, I just have to share the whole paragraph. I grant you that if you are going to take three sentences out of context and post them, these aren't bad, still, the context out of which they came enriches them, so.... I thought this would have more meaning if I also shared the whole paragraph and not just the sentences. Human Options is a wonderful book full of wonderful quotes, thoughts and interviews with famous people. Here's the whole paragraph of which the meme sentences were the ending.

Few memories are more vivid in my mind than walking into Helen Keller's study in total darkness and, suddenly, having Miss Thomson snap on the lights. Helen Keller had been sitting in the blackness for several hours, reading in Braille and working on her correspondence. Only the vibrations in the floor set off by our approach signaled to her our presence. She rose and walked towars us, extending her arms. It was the first time I had met her, and she reached for my head. Very delicately, very slowly, her fingers explored my face and I felt that my innermost being was being examined. The fingers ran lightly over my forehead, eye, planes of my face, mouth, chin, and neck. There was nothing intrusive about the experience; she made it feel as thought it was as natural and unexceptional as a handshake. When we went to her table for dinner, she stopped when she smelled the freshly lit candles, and exclaimed how much she loved to have candles at dinner time. Miss Thomson sat next to her and translated by working her fingers in the palm of Helen Keller's hand in the language they had worked out so beautifully together. We talked about world affairs and music and mutual friends. After dinner she asked me to play the piano and she listened by placing her fingers on the side of the instrument. Her face was open, expectant, luminous. She was one of the finest teachers the human race has produced. She taught us that the human spirit is life giving, dimensionless, omnipresent. She taught us that the smallest fractions can open out into a great whole. I have never known a more gracious, noble or lovable human being.

I also really hate tagging people, so tag yourself if you want to do this.

MEME #2

The second meme came from Storyteller at Small Reflections. It goes as follows:

The rules:
All you have to do is Google your first name with the word needs behind it and post the first 10 results. Don't forget to tag people (if you are the tagging sort)!

As always, you are free to tag yourself if you wish to. I won't do it to you. I don't know if I've done this entirely legally. I had to kind of extrapolate the answers for a few of them. It was silly enough and I was trying to avoid something last night that I did it three times - once for Raven and two more times for two of her alter egos - Katherine and Aunt Kathie. Katherine needs a lot of serious help apparently. OK... enough intro... here are the results.

1. Raven needs "feathers for all her magickal needs."
2. Raven needs "a lot of time for simple everyday decisions." (boy did they have my number)
3. Raven needs "a bass player."
4. Raven needs "a god quest revamp."
5. Raven needs "a miracle."
6. Raven needs "to go."
7. Raven needs "our help."
8. Raven needs "Nickelbolt's new muse."
9. Raven needs "shadow artifact - Titan Quest forums."
10. Raven needs " Determination of the need."


Raven's alter ego Katherine, on the other hand needs the following:

1. Katherine needs "tourism focus."
2. Katherine needs "her morning coffee."
3. Katherine needs "more dresses."
4. Katherine needs "another coat."
5. Katherine needs "to fall off the face of the earth."
6. Katherine needs "prayer."
7. Katherine needs "your vote."
8. Katherine needs "to get over herself."
9. Katherine needs "to take instablogs."
10. Katherine needs "another coat video at The Insider."


1. Aunt Kathie needs "to come for a visit."
2. Aunt Kathie needs " to let the love flow and it will take care of the rest."
3. Aunt Kathie needs "a vegan's case for Ron Paul... and/or a good alternative to abortion being adoption."
4. Aunt Kathie needs "a handshake."
5. Aunt Kathie needs "the book I should write."
6. Aunt Kathie needs "Amythyst Dragonfly's Place of Eternal Rants."
7. Aunt Kathie needs "Aunt Jane (who can apparently make it all better).
8. Aunt Kathie needs "to teach Paris hard times hard lesson."
9. Aunt Kathie needs "to succeed."
10. Aunt Kathie needs "to be with the Lord."


Happy Monday.... Wish me luck tomorrow.... more important pray for the guy climbing a 60 foot broken tree to cut it down.

Tagged: Getting to Know you Meme

Maryt, aka The Teach tagged me for this meme. The theme is "Getting to Know You." You were probably better of NOT knowing me, but a deal's a deal, so, here goes...

The Rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or more people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago would be 1998, I guess. Alas, I wasn't doing much. I was still living in New York City, but my agoraphobia and my walking problems had trapped me in my apartment pretty much full time. I was still having panic attacks back then and depression had pretty much made me into a deteriorating vegetable. My cats and my computer and a few good friends kept me going. That and one of the gifts of living in a big city - delivery. I do miss that here in the middle of nowhere.

2. What are 5 Things on my To-Do List for today:

1. Do this meme. 2. Keep track of the Wordzzle entries. 3. Take a nap. 4. Reiki a kitty up in Maine 5. Watch my netflix movie for today which is Charlie Wilson's War.

3. Snacks I Enjoy:

Oh, Lord... there's almost nothing I don't like. Chocolate, chips, cookies, ice cream, cheese & crackers, grapes, cherries. I have to confess that I am, unfortunately, more likely to eat the first items than the healthier ones.

4. Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:

On the personal level, I'd fix up the front steps of the house so it's easier to get in and out and I'd close in the back porch and put a washer dryer in the kitchen. Oh - and a new TV and a piano. I'd pay off my mortgage and donate funds to help others get similar mortgages from the state. It would be a fund to help people who are not quite able to qualify for HOYO to bridge the gap. And I'd set aside enough money to live modestly until I kick the bucket. I'd pay off the mortgages on everyone's houses - relatives and friends. My nieces and nephews would each get at least a million plus there'd be trust funds for my great niece and great nephew. Friends without houses would get them and nobody in my circle of friends would have any more credit card debt to deal with. I'd pay for college for my friend three friends who all desperately want to go to school but can't afford it. I'd pay for college for my friend K's children too. I'd help my friend E. establish here lifes' dream animal welfare organization and invest in producing and distributing her music. I'd invest in my nephew's restaurant. I'd publish my own writing and see about marketing it. There's probably lots of other stuff I'd do too. That's on the personal level. On a grander scale, I'd donate a lot of money to Habitat for Humanity and to various wildlife organizations. And to Amnesty International, One and other organizations dedicated to world peace and the elimination of poverty and cruelty. I'd establish a free spay neuter program for Delaware and Sullivan Counties - maybe even NY State. (I've got billions, right?) I'd contribute to arts programs for schools in these poor communities where I live... providing musical instruments, cameras, books, art supplies. Oh, I could go on and on and on. I think about this a lot. One more thing.... I'd solarize anything anybody would let me solarize and I'd invest in developing solar energy.


5. Three Of My Bad Habits:

I eat too much and I don't eat healthy. I stay up too late and sleep too late. I check my blog constantly and compulsively in case somebody has posted a comment.

6. 5 Places I have Lived:

1. Born in the Bronx, NY ( to age 5) 2. Massapequa Park, Long Island, New York. (into my 20s) 3. 18th Street and 1st Avenue in New York City (for 33 years) 4. Mesa, Arizona (18 months) 5. Various locations in upstate New York - Lake Huntington, Narrowsburg, Callicoon, ending up in Hancock.

7. Jobs I Have Had:

Administrative Assistant at various places, including The Council on Social Work Education in NYC, Macy's, The American Museum of Natural History, K&W (manufacturers of fine wallpaper... awful job). I was also the Assistant Director of Admissions for a while at The School of Visual Arts. Was an administrative assistant and editorial assistant for the Department for Ecumenical Relations of the Lutheran Church in America.

I do reiki for money sometimes. Not quite a job, really, but something I love. I've done writing/editing at almost all my jobs, just didn't get pay or credit for it very often. When I was on the road in 1978, I temped at banks. At the bank in Seattle, one of my jobs was sorting through bonds. I had a chance to steal about $100,000 in un-cancelled bonds. I was too honest/cowardly to do that. I probably would have been caught anyway. Oh, boy, I almost forgot my two nightmare years working as a writer for the Human Resources Department of the City of New York.

8. 5 People I Want To Know More About:I Am Tagging:

1. Dianne at Forks off the Moment
2. Linda at These are the Days
3. Kim at Ramblings of a 40 Something Empty Nester
4. Akelamalu at Everything and Nothing
5. Richard at Mr. Richard's Bloggerhood