17 December 2003 - 12:47 a.m., edited 9:38 a.m.

Google has an anniversary-of-flight cartoon up! Too cool. . .

As I posted to Mer's writing journal earlier tonight, re prioritizing projects:

Strategy A:

(1) Scroll through Write Hemisphere, Ralan and/or the Poets & Writers classifieds and make a list of contest/reading period deadlines.
(2) Write whatever's due first.

Strategy B:

1) Obtain a garlic-eating dog that goes possum-chasing at 3 a.m.
2) Curl up with computer while waiting for damned dog to finish galloping all over creation.
3) Type sleep-deprivation-addled brain spillings-out re something completely unrelated to any of the lists constructed via Strategy A.
4) Stew all day over last three lines, which clunk, and middle section, which seems okay except that you can't shake the sense that adding another three lines would improve the flow, besides which, why settle for just ok?
(5) Swear at the unknown germ-laden clod who inflicted your current cough on you and eat the last of the pickled garlic.
(6) Page through the "A" section of unabridged dictionary extracted from under a pile of gym clothes, hoping to find the !@%$ word that will make the last line click instead of clunk.
(7) Go take a bath. Write comments in friends' journals. Play madrigals, grind ink and stew over lame title.

Strategy C:

What's wrong with enjoying a bath and a book? Writers are supposed to spend lots of time reading.

Statements in bold I have in common with Mer. Statements in bold and italic I have in common with both Mer and possibly M'ris (depending on how much said statement morphed from journal to journal). If I were truly obsessive-compulsive I'd go back and italicize items common to M'ris and me but not Mer, but I really ought to go to bed before midnight. (Plus, I just solved my layout problem - this is mainly to give my shoulder a break before I go back to tonight's lettering.)

01. I discovered e-mail in grade school but I've never played in a MUD or a MUSH.
02. Never been much of a TV-watcher, though I wish I could've seen the Tony Awards retrospective last week, and I can't wait to see Angels in America once I get my mitts on a DVD.
03. I don't feel all that strongly about my "favorite" shows right now since there aren't any. That said, anyone who phones me during the Rose Bowl deserves to get cussed out.
04. I don't draw or paint well enough to "enjoy" it without qualifications. Yet.
05. I like music. Although I can't rehearse at my piano at the moment because it's piled with presents I haven't gotten around to wrapping.
06. I'm actually pretty sure somebody understands.
07. I hate it when people type in all caps online.
08. I also hate people who TypE LyKe D1s. Oh, Jesus, yes.
09. I don't mind people who cannot speak/write in proper English: depending on context, and that includes people who know better. That said, contingent on context, poor grammar and spelling do drive me batshit. There's a difference between the homeboys talking smack and would-be writers who need to be smacked into placing apostrophes where they belong.
10. I live hundreds or thousands of miles from where I was born. Texas is biiiiiiiiiiiig.
11. I have a MA.
12. I wish my jobs paid better. As M'ris says, "Isn't this the human condition?" That said, I'm proof that English majors can find interesting jobs outside of teaching and writing.
13. I do lose contact with people sometimes. Sometimes it's better that way.
14. I wish I was better at forgetting, or at least letting go of grudges and regrets.
15. No desire to take up yoga. I'd go to a class if a friend wanted company, but I'd rather swim or walk the dog.
16. I get cold even in Tennessee, but that's what afghans and flannel sheets and leather jackets are for. That said, when there's less than adequate coverage (deliberate or no), my butt's seldom bothered by the cold as much as my arms and feet.
17. I complain about never having enough time to get things done, so what I am doing filling out this survey? On the other hand, last night I successfully resisted getting assigned to two more committees. On the third hand, I volunteered my house for a meeting next month and accepted another commission today. On the fourth hand, I'm supposed to accept commissions! That's my job! On the fifth hand, I want to take a year off just to fix the house and study opera scores and read. On the sixth hand. . .
18. I have a lot to learn. Forever and always.
19. I'm generally far more comfortable writing to people than talking to them, although I manage both as needed.
20. I check my email constantly, at least when my ISP is cooperating, but am not so swift with the replying.
21. I am a writer, and at this point in my career, I have the confidence to write and even to send stories out. This does not, however, translate to confidence the expectation that those stories will sell. Sometimes I consider what I write to be good - but nonetheless limited in market appeal. Them's the breaks.
22. I hate when people yell. (Very much so. I go all frightened three-year-old when people yell.) Or wary housecat. When there's screaming, I start checking my claws even if it's not directed specifically at me.
23. I want to travel the globe and hang out in other countries.
24. I don't really have the urge to collect things.
25. I have some trouble finishing things I start. But that's only because I'm such a self-starter. Ha!
26. Love coffee. Black. Decaf.
27. I love going new places and seeing new things and trying out new stuff to eat. Also, I love taking friends to places that are new to them, showing them new things, and feeding them new stuff to eat. Absolutely!
28. I actually don't think of myself as weird, but I'm sure some (perhaps even most) of my intimates would beg to differ. It's not that I view the word "weird" as pejorative, I just find it too vague and decentralized to be of much use to me as a descriptor, whether it's of me or unknown-to-me people/places/things.
29. I wish I believed "that human beings can understand each other, with time, effort, patience and love, no matter what their backgrounds are" but the hypothesis strikes me as overly reliant on uncertain commodities.
30. I love the sound of cats purring, especially mine.
31. I still play piano, and would like to resume playing the viola someday.
32. "I think that animals are part of the cycle of propagation and predation, and that excesses to one side or the other in the animal rights issue are dangerous." Ayup.
33. I procrastinate. And how.
34. Bratty kids make me sad AND irritated.
35. Not much of a movie-watcher.
36. I don't mind some flavors of cleaning, although the BYM and I get frustrated about different things at different times.
37. I write pornography/erotica. Just won Katy Terrega's holiday flash fiction contest, in fact.
38. Crowds can be fun, as long as I'm within reasonable distance of the fire exits.
39. I am married and grinning about it.
40. I anticipate being entertained by people I know picking up this meme.
[numbers missing]
43. My birthmark is within self-scratching reach.
44. I live in a hundred-fifty-something-or-other-year-old two-story house that I'm still getting together. We own it.
41. I really enjoy thoughtful gifts, even if they cost nothing. Although the cynical part of me suspects this is a trick question - time costs. That, and I frankly believe some gifts are just not appropriate or appealing no matter how much thought went into their creation or selection.
42. I like people who are a bit out of the ordinary, and I like people who are a lot out of the ordinary too, but not necessarily more. It depends on context and length of exposure.
[More missing numbers...].
45. I love fashions of different, by-gone eras, but I'm relieved I don't have to wear them. Much of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores. Like M'ris, I harbor a "general scowly ambivalence towards pants." These days, a characteristic Peg outfit consists of a long dress, thick socks and Doc Martens.
46. I pass for normal fairly often, although the people who know me well seem to share consensus on "offbeat."
47. No kids, none planned.
48. I haven't learned how to ride a horse yet, in spite of growing up in Kentucky.
49. I didn't discover role-playing until graduate school, and never quite found the time or inclination to stick with a long-term campaign. I did find it inordinately more fun to read the manuals and construct characters than to play in an actual game.
50. I am alwaysgenerally pleasantly surprised when I hear from someone new in my comments.
51. I like silence often.
52. I've lived in the South and the Midwest.
53. I've got glasses, and had braces.
54. I dislike having to give orders, but sometimes there's no help for it.
55. I like being alone frequently, although my preferred state is sharing a room with the BYM, each of us working on our own projects.
56. I would rather cook than do dishes any day. I don't mind doing most of the cooking at all. Caveat: I don't particularly like cooking with other people's stuff in other people's spaces - I'm a casual, messy cook and I get jittery about staining or spoiling things that don't belong to me.
57. I make a lot of lists, but need to work on putting things away once I'm done with them.
58. I need to exercise. Once I get over this cold.
59. I like when my friends write me letters and emails, it makes me feel special. Sometimes annoyed, depending on the contents. But still special. But most of them know by now that I'll Snopes them at the least provocation.
60. I've been told I'm excessively pessimistic, and that I go to absurd lengths to credit people with good intentions.
61. I'm still in touch with a few friends from junior high on, although we're nowhere near as close as we used to be. I alternate between wanting to flee to a hermitage and feeling that I have got to pare my down my commitments so I can truly hang out and build new able-to-phone-them-at-midnight-if-need-be friendships with people local enough to meet for coffee.
62. Crying at commercials: nope. But even trite romance novels can get me going. I think that falls in the same category, meme-wise.
63. I overreact about things sometimes. I also underreact. I have been accused of being a cold fish more often than over-emotional. Yep, I know that tune.
64. I cry more with music than at it, and much less so than in my teens and early twenties. That said, I don't always weep when deeply moved - sometimes I just sit there, hollow and stunned, and certain songs do do that to me.
65. I have fun dreams, sometimes, but also plenty of nightmares. They suck.
66. I wish I could travel more often. In an ideal world, I'd run around a different foreign country every year.
67. I like living, growing things in theory, but I can't say I care for reptiles, mosquitoes, or plants that shed burrs.
68. I dislike heights, although hanging lights for college theatre helped cure some of that, and I adore skyscrapers.
69. I believe in something like God that's too complicated to describe here, and am more invested in discussing religion as a matter of practice rather than theory.
70. I don't consider myself a pacifist, but M'ris said it well: "I believe that there are things worth dying for, which is a perfectly fine pacifist position; I also believe there are things worth killing for, which is a bit more problematic from a pacifist point of view. My list of things worth killing for is fairly short and doesn't involve most of the things politicians have been attempting to put on it. (Then again, that's true of my list of things worth dying for, too: very low intersection rate with that of politicians.) I believe in seeking peaceful solutions to problems between and among individuals and nations. But if you start physically attacking my friends and family, I make no guarantees of how many times I will offer a peaceful solution."
71. I like weather cool enough to wear sweaters but mild enough to forego socks.
72. M'ris again: " I would love to seek the nearest corner in a crowded room and find a book, but I often feel that it's my duty to entertain and care for people instead." Although on Sunday that is exactly what I was allowed to indulge in at the car club chili party (co-hosted by a librarian) - Peg, wine, sofa, and some Christmas stories. Perfect.
73. I've broken no bones.
74. I don't like the smell of patchouli.
75. I'm a not-so-closet celeb watcher. Fortunately, I'm pretty busy, so it doesn't become an obsession.
76. I don't lack for acquaintances, but I haven't figured out how to balance my need for lots of time alone with the urge to cultivate stronger relationships.
77. I love to read.
78. I re-read a lot. I try not to buy books without re-read value.
79. I don't try to be open about the health issues I have. Why be the proverbial bore?
80. I am told I write very well.
81. I'm apparently fairly easy-going most of the time. Choosing one's battles, etc.
82. I do understand the appeal of horror movies, even though I don't care for them myself.
83. I sometimes disregard the budget but I'm generally fiscally cautious.
84. I love my family, but I'm so very glad I don't live with anyone other than my husband.
85. On some issues, I'm very firm in my beliefs, but I admire people able and willing to argue and/or acknowledge multiple sides in the pursuit of fairness.
86. I am female.
87. I support gay marriage. It makes me really sad that there are people who can't marry the ones they love.
88. I don't have many opinions about kids as a species. I didn't particularly enjoy being one.
89. I did not vote for Bush - and won't, but I haven't made up my mind regarding who would best take his place.
90. I realize I'm going to die someday, and I'm okay with that in theory, but I still don't like it one bloody bit.
91. I do not smoke.
92. Most of the family would be categorized as middle-class.
93. I HATE when computers freeze. Derrr.
94. Hate the phone. Front-line customer service will do that to you.
95. I'm not afraid of hospitals, but I detest being in them. Same goes for planes.
96. Socially anxious? Sometimes.
97. I have no pager.
98. I love earrings. I didn't get my ears pierced until my mid-twenties, so wearing non-clip earrings still gives me the odd thrill of playing grown-up.
99. I've never had a permanent tattoo, although temporary ones amuse me.
100. Probably not. The tendency to tweak and fine-tune will out. . . (So much for going to bed by midnight.)