What's a meme? Who cares? I'll play!

My good friend Brooke just tagged me for a meme. I'm so excited! She is the one who encouraged me to start blogging again. She's also the only person I've ever told where to find my blog. Knowing that people are reading my blog is so liberating! So thank you to Brooke for everything!


1. First song you remember hearing on the radio as a child-- Wow. That's a good one. I think I remember my dad listening to football and that announcer who always said, "JIMMmmmINY CHRISTMAS!"

2. First album you remember listening to as a child-- Jesus Christ Superstar and The Eagles--both on 8-track. We also had several Jim Croce albums. At that time my dad looked exactly like Jim Croce and no amount of denial from my dad could make my brother and me believe it wasn't him on the cover.

3. Album that takes you back to junior high-- Billy Squier's Don't Say No and Van Halen's 1984.

4. Most played album in high school-- The Call's Let the Day Begin, Guns N Roses Welcome to the Jungle, and INXS' Kick. We also listened to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack quite a bit.

5. Favorite album in college-- We listened to AC/DC's Back in Black, 10,000 Maniacs, Indigo Girls, and some country: Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Clint Black. As Brooke says, it was somewhat obligatory at the schools we went to. And here's something you can hold over my head: I really liked the song Ice, Ice, Baby by none other than that top-shelf singer Vanilla Ice.

6. Song that reminds you of what it was like to feel cool-- Practically anything from the 80s. No matter what I was listening to, if I was driving in my car and laughing with friends, I felt cool. :D

7. Favorite albums to road trip with-- Now that we have SIRIUS I hardly listen to my CDs. But life before SIRIUS had a lot of Killers, Garbage, 80s music, etc. Of course, I had to plug in the DVD player for the kids before I could listen to some of it.

8. Best relationship angst album or any other albums worthy of mention-- OMG! Chicago, Air Supply and REO Speedwagon were played so much at parties they still make me gag. But I do really like Peter Gabriel's So album; in particular his song In Your Eyes. I also still like Modern English's Melt with You (from the ever popular but often overlooked film Valley Girl with a young Nic Cage). Finally, Naked Eyes with Always Something There to Remind Me.

9. Your personal soundtrack today includes-- Still as eclectic as ever: The Killers, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Goo Goo Dolls, Beach Boys, and Enya.

10. So if this is your personal soundtrack, what's the plot of the movie in 50 words or less-- This one time? At band camp? :D

More End-of-Year Musings

My Bests of 2005:

Best Book I Read This Year: East of Eden

Best CD I Bought: Hot Fuss by The Killers

Best Vacation: Wine Country (but Disney World with my family was a close second)

Best Bottle of Wine I Bought: Inniskillin Ice Wine

Best News I Received: My brother and his wife are expecting their second child!

Best Recurring Feeling and Realization: My life is perfect because I have the perfect family for me. I love my life.

Things that need to just END when the year does (but I know they won't):

Jen / Brad / Jolie. Oye vay.

Transferring me to India when I call for tech support. Listen to me: Your name is not Edna (or Phil), you are not in the US, and you are not fooling anyone.

Liberal media bias. You might check out Neal Boortz for a different point of view. He is definitely obnoxious, but he makes some good points. Maybe between the mainstream media and Boortz you'll be intrigued to do some research and find the REAL story. At least you may see a different point of view and merge it with what you've heard on TV and come up with something. You know, I was a Democrat before the whole Gore/Bush thing. As that unfolded I was appalled at how one-sided the coverage was in favor of Gore. Although I had voted for him I was pretty sure there was another side. And, hello! If you concede the race, you can't recind your offer later. That's when I finally figured out (yes, it was late) that I needed to find out more actual information on my own. Oh, wait. I'm bitching again. Sorry. Do what you want. :D

The Obligatory Narcissistic End-Of-Year List

It's the end of the year and I have my own list. I'll probably be posting several lists over the next few days. I'm a Technical Writer; I live by lists.

Freaky McFreak of the Year: Tom Cruise. 'Nuf said. Freak. I heard REM's Superman on the radio today. I immediately thought of our boy Tom. Here are the first few lyrics:

I am, I am, I am Superman. And I know what's happening.
I am, I am, I am Superman. And I can do anything.

Hmmmm. Is it me or does that sound like TC's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show? Fuh-reak.

Aw Man! Moment of the Year: December 10, Matt Damon has shotgun wedding. Guess he won't be moving into my smallish walk-in closet any time soon. Bummer.

Funniest Web Site I Found This Year: Superdickery. Click on "Galleries" then click on "Seduction of the Innocent". The title should be enough to deter anyone who is easily offended. Batman is NOT gay! (You'll get it later.)

Christmas Vacation

Here we are two days after Christmas. We had a wonderful, techy holiday. The kids were given every robot imaginable--robodog, a large robosapien, a small robosapien, and two robodinosaurs; I received a palm pilot, GPS system, MP3 player; my DH received a Sirius radio. We are wired to our ears (literally!).

I also recieved my favorite DVD set: The Thin Man complete set. Yay! Nick and Nora are one of a kind. If you haven't seen a Thin Man movie, I highly suggest you run out and rent one. There has never been a combo like William Powell and Myrna Loy.

We are taking it easy today and playing video games and watching world-class movies like Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

I wish I had something witty to say, but I just don't. (grin) Perhaps once I'm out from my sugar comatose I'll be able to think of something funny. Right now I'm just trying to discipline myself and get in the habit of writing in the blog.