I guess this probably falls under the meme category. My friend Melissa has been posting entries with the title 'Unconscious Mutterings' along with a date, and I finally figured out where they came from--it just took me awhile to remember to look.
Anyway, there are two weeks worth here, hopefully I'll remember to do it more often than once every several months. :)
Want to play along? Go here: Unconscious Mutterings.
Week of April 18, 2004
Virginia :: Norfolk
Soft :: Hard
Carol :: Hathaway
Vanity :: Madonna
Feminist :: Bra-burning
Alias :: Pen name
Coward :: Lion
Beer :: Horses
Chance :: Medic
Honest :: True
---
Week of April 25, 2004
Elastic :: Band
Intervention :: Drunk
Risk :: Gain
Junk Food :: Forbidden
Arrogance :: Social class
Responsibility :: Childhood
X :: 2
Marshall :: Jason
Kill :: Rundown
Brother :: Sister
Not only am I avoiding talking about the weekend, but now, I am also avoiding work! I shouldn't, I still have tickets to update from today's development meeting, but dangit, I am at lunch. :)
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
9: What are you wearing?:
10: Did you dream last night?
11: When did you last laugh?
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
15: What is the last film you saw?:
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
19: Do you like to dance?:
20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?:
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
23: Will you pass on this survey?:
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
The following table provides URLs for product information, training, and additional user documentation.
(I'm at work, what did you expect? Porn disguised as crappy romance? :)
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
My callmaster phone. Or, more accurately, the incredibly broken headset I have for said phone.
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
Shark Byte, which TiVo chopped the end off, dangit.
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
2:20pm.
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
2:25pm
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My radio turned on barely loud enough to be heard over the space heater that we have going in the office, because the AC is on all the freaking time.
7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
About an hour or so ago, going to get lunch.
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
Livejournal, specifically Leon's, to get the questions for this thing. Before that, Lucent's internal training website, so that I can take this stupid customer care course.
9: What are you wearing?:
Olive green shirt with three-quarter sleeves, black pants, black socks, black dress shoes, my wedding ring, and the red and orange airbrushed ink thing I got done at Great America the other day.
10: Did you dream last night?
Yeah, but I don't remember what it was about.
11: When did you last laugh?
A few minutes ago, when Jeremy told me about a conversation he had at work.
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
A big white board, upon which is written a list of issues sent to development (mine), a list of author review bugs (mine), a list of customers waiting for our next release (mine), and a list of meetings (my officemate's). A piece of paper with 'Anti-Stress Kit' in big letters, above a big circle inside which states 'Bang Head Here', and instructions on how to use it. A garland I got at the Renfaire a few years ago. An okay piece of celtic-themed office artwork. My officemate's various cartoons and a list of commonly used extensions for co-workers. A San Jose Stealth pennant from opening night (local pro lacrosse team). A magnetic dart board.
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
I see weird things every day.
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
It passes the time. :)
15: What is the last film you saw?:
Hrm. Actually in the theater? Monster with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. On HBO the other night, I watched the end of Identity (highly recommended!) and What A Girl Wants.
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
A big, huge house.
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
I used to be a really damn good little snow skier--the kind that other parents would point out to their kids. "Do it like she's doing it, see?"
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
Give every child older than toddling age in an orphanage or a bad foster care situation a good and loving home, where their needs will be properly met, where they'll be loved and cared for. Seems to me that most people are more likely to adopt infants or very young children. What about the older ones?
19: Do you like to dance?:
Not really.
20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?:
I abstain.
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
(Heh. I just noticed these are misnumbered here.)
We've actually talked about this, but since it's such a highly unlikely scenario, I'll just decline to answer.
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
See above.
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
Absolutely, as long as I could choose where it'd be.
23: Will you pass on this survey?:
Nah, but it's in my blog for anyone who wants to grab it.
I don't do memes all that often, more because I think that a lot of them are silly and I don't want to clutter up my blog/LJ friends page with them than anything else.
Some of them, though...well. Right now, there's a 'where were you when' one going around, and that was one that I found pretty thought-provoking. The really interesting part is that this one sparked a lot of memories, that I'll probably ultimately end up writing about. We'll see how it goes. I've been sitting on this one, gradually answering it, for three or four days. About damn time it gets posted. :)
Where were you when...
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963):
2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980):
3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986):
3b. When the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred (4/25-26/1986):
3c. When Halley's Comet visited (1986):
4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989):
5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989):
6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991):
7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994):
8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995):
9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997):
10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (4/20/1999):
11. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000):
12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001):
13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center [and flew a plane into the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania] (9/11/2001):
14. When Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas (2/1/2003):
Where was I? Answers below.
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963):
Not even a twinkle in the eyes of my parents--I wouldn't be here for another almost ten years. My mom was on the verge of turning 9 years old.
2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980):
Living in Salt Lake City, worried that one of our mountains might erupt, too.
Never happened.
3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986):
Like so many people my age, I was at school. *Un*like a lot of people my age, we didn't get to watch it as it happened. I just have vague memories of a few of my teachers crying. We didn't get to leave early at all, and the first time I actually saw it was later that afternoon, when my mom came home from work. I remember her kneeling on the floor in front of the TV, holding my brother in her lap as we all watched, silent.
I got my first period the same day.
3b. When the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred (4/25-26/1986):
3c. When Halley's Comet visited (1986):
My memory of these two events is pretty vague, so I've rolled them into one. I would've still been in Utah, and...that's about it.
I did a report on Chernobyl in high school, and got a B on it rather than an A because it was too long.
4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989):
Still in Salt Lake, utterly terrified for my mother, who was living out there by then, I think. Either living or visiting, but I *know* she was there. Scared the hell out of me.
5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989):
We got to see footage of this in my history class. It was pretty cool.
6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991):
Ha! Okay. In that same history class mentioned above, my teacher, Ms. Cluny, talked about the US and its cyclical history of involvement in conflict. We were due, she said, and that it would happen within the next five years, probably much sooner than that--and that it'd be in the middle east. Probably not such a huge leap in logic, given the fabric of politics at the the time, but it was still really interesting. I saw her a couple of days after the Gulf War started and we talked about it--she seemed more surprised that I'd actually been paying attention than anything.
Anyway. This is one memory that's actually really clear for me. I was driving by that point, and took a couple of friends home every day. One of them was in an AP History class, and she mentioned that they had a class pool running on when the war would start. I don't remember the exact date the pool started, but I *do* remember that it supposed to start several days afterwards--probably after a weekend or something. I went home, I turned on the TV, and just sort of stared for a minute, then called Merianne. "You all lost," I said. "The United States went to war half an hour ago."
I had an uncle in the Navy reserves at that point--a pilot. I forget the exact plane he flew, a C-130 or something, the one that looks like a 737 with a long stinger coming out the back of it. We were all terrified he'd be called up.
He wasn't.
7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994):
I was working double shifts at Wasatch Valley Rehab, from 3pm to 7am, and was on the tail end of one of those shifts. One of the rooms in the long term care ward was a 4-plex--four beds, four women. They liked to have the TV turned on at 6, and I ended up in their room during 'the chase.'
It's really weird, too, how thinking about this brings back other, sensory memories. But that's a topic for a later time, I guess.
8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995):
Still in Salt Lake City, but not for much longer at that point. I was working in the reception atrium of the Eccles Broadcast Center, the local PBS/NPR station. It's on a golf course, the station, and the atrium is exactly what it sounds like. Every once in awhile, the building would get hit by a golf ball--at which point we'd always go out and snag the ball. Any golfer who came to get the ball would have it returned, of course, but none of them ever did. Heh.
ANYway. There were TVs in the reception area, tuned to the station that was broadcasting with the volume turned down, while the NPR station played in the background. When we heard about it, we turned the radio station down and turned one of the TVs onto the news, so we could get the latest about what was going on. Well. I say 'we,' but it was one of the program managers for the PBS station. The station manager came out about half an hour later and chewed me out for letting them change the station.
9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997):
I had just arrived in California a few weeks previous. I was going out to dinner with friends, and we passed through the laundry room on the way out. The TV in the laundry room was tuned to CNN, and it was reporting the news. We didn't realize how serious it was until much later, we just heard that it was a car accident.
10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (4/20/1999):
You know what's really sad about this? I don't really remember all that much about it. I *do* remember that the Sharks were in the middle of a playoff series with the Avs (which they lost), and that there were games were postponed out of respect.
11. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000):
Don't really remember or care where I was for this one, actually.
12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001):
Oh brother. I was at work, and heard about it from a co-worker. Was immediately just absolutely *terrified* for my mom, Matt, and my brother. Couldn't get ahold of anyone. Tried not to panic. They made me go out and pick up lunch for everyone to take my mind off it--not such a good thing since Kevin, sweetheart that he was, had the radio on for me while we were out.
13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center [and flew a plane into the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania] (9/11/2001):
When the actual attack happened, I was asleep. I first heard about it on the radio, and it was a very surreal sort of thing. Understand, I've never been to New York at all, and the only experience I had with the WTC was that it was an establishing shot for so many movies.
When I first heard about it, I was in the car on the way to work, when they reported that the first of the towers had fallen. Even then, it seemed strangely surreal, and a co-worker and I talked about it as we walked into the building. I mean, a plane into a building? They're not talking about a big passenger-type plane, are they? It's just a single-engine thing or something.
My mom and I talked via email throughout the day. After a few hours of watching CNN when I got home, I had to go into the bedroom and read something mindless.
14. When Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas (2/1/2003):
Saturday morning. I was up early, because I was working the 5am shift, so I couldn't ever sleep much past 7 or 8. I'd turned on the TV just after it happened on CNN, so I was part of the story almost as it happened.
Nabbed from a few people on Livejournal:
First real kiss: Dan. Just after my 17th birthday. Late bloomer. :)
First job: Babysitting.
First self-purchased album: Michael Jackson's Thriller. Oy.
First funeral: My paternal grandma's, in 1991. It was also the last one I attended, not through any choice of my own.
First pet: Mork, a cute tabby cat, and Mindy, a border collie.
First piercing: My ears, I was eight.
First true love: Brett.
First big trip: Which one? First big trip I remember: going to Canada for my sixth birthday.
Last cigarette: I'd say never, but I took a single puff off a clove once about 10 or so years ago. Aside from that? Never. :)
Last big car ride: Hrm. Probably the one to Salt Lake, since I don't think going from here to SF really counts as a big car ride.
Last kiss: Last night.
Last good cry: Two weekends ago.
Last library book checked out: Er. I don't remember. I typically don't check out library books because I can't ever return them on time.
Last movie seen: Full movie? Finding Nemo. But I've seen bits and pieces of Speed, Shallow Hal, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in recent days.
Last beverage drank: Diet Pepsi.
Last food consumed: Two turkey sausage patties on a tortilla, that I couldn't really taste, because of this stupid cold.
Last phone call: To some support monkey who left me a message this morning explaining, in oh so polite tones, that I was basically an idiot. Except that I wasn't doing what she thought I was doing, and I got to hear the lightbulb click on a few minutes later. "Ohhhhhh!" Duh.
Last TV show watched: Ground Force. I love BBC America. Ground Force kicks ass.
Last time showered: This morning.
Last shoes worn: My flat black work shoes...which are currently kicked under the desk.
Last CD played: Michelle Malone, Stompin' Ground.
Last item bought: Soda for this morning.
Last annoyance: Freaking toothache waking me up at 4am, and stupid stupid bank creatures.
Last disappointment: Finding out that a friend of my mom's is no longer in remission.
Last soda drank: Diet Pepsi.
Last ice cream eaten: A Toll House cookie ice cream sandwich last Saturday.
Last time scolded: Ugh. Last Friday.
Last shirt worn: Long sleeved teal colored shirt.
Last website visited: Livejournal. Before that, sjsharks.com.
Last thing that made you happy: When I looked at myself in the mirror this morning, *really* looked, I could see that the diet/fitness thing is working. It's subtle, but I can see it.
Last IM: Hrm. Brett, but it's been awhile.
Last cute thing you saw: A four year old singing along to the Indigo Girls, handing them beaded bracelets that she'd made.
First book: Disney's Jungle Book.
Last book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
First concert: Christopher Cross. I was four.
Last concert: Indigo Girls, with Michelle Malone opening.
In light of a few of my recent posts, this week's Friday Five seemed rather appropriate...
1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?
2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?
3. Are there any sports you hate?
4. Have you ever been to a sports event?
5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?
1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?
NHL hockey, NBA and NCAA basketball, NFL football.
2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?
Hockey: my Sharks, of course. :) I'm also sort of hoping for the Avs this year. I'm still pretty impressed with Jean-Sebastian Giguere, and I still love Jeff Friesen. I could name half of the Sharks roster here, too, but I won't.
NBA: Utah Jazz, and John Stockton. I could still count Karl Malone in there, but gaah, he had to go and sign with the Lakers. The only thing worse than that would be if he'd signed with the Bulls. ;)
3. Are there any sports you hate?
Baseball is just not my cup of tea. Neither is Nascar, if you can count that a sport.
4. Have you ever been to a sports event?
I'm a season ticket holder for the Sharks. I've also been to several NBA games, and to some college basketball games. Oh! And the horse races--again, not sure whether that exactly qualifies as a sport.
5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?
I played softball for several years, before high school, in the accelerated leagues. I started out as right/left field, moved to short stop, then moved to first base. I had one brief stint as catcher, and man, did that ever suck. I tried out for the high school softball team, but there were many many girls there who were better than I was.