I know it's been a long time since I posted, and part of that was the Christmas wind-down, but not long after that, Eleanor the laptop actually crashed on me and had to spend some time in repair. The brightside is that $200 later, it's in fine working order, I didn't have to reinstall a single thing, and I actually have a bigger hard drive than what I started with! I also immediately went and uploaded my writing to two independent file storage sites so I can access my writing even without Eleanor.

Christmas was pretty awesome - I got cash from the grandparents, as usual, but I also got an iPod case from Shannon and Season 2 of Castle on DVD from Lauren. My parents, however, went on eBay and got me a vintage 2nd edition copy of a Little Golden Book my mom used to read to us when we were kids. Since I collect antique books, this was actually an awesome gift. Now all I need to find is the 1980s reprint, since that was the one we actually owned, and I'll have the Katie the Kitten exacta. (How weird does that sound?) Considering that Katie the Kitten isn't in print anymore, this would be awesome.

Speaking of Christmas, even though I said I was almost Christmas-ed out, I managed to paint six ornaments for a pastor friend, who just adopted a little girl. I made one personalized ornament for each member of the family, and on the bottom, where I signed and dated them, I included a heart (since I always sign stuff with a heart) and numbered each in their birth order. They turned out so adorable - I'm so proud of them, and so far I know Joel is jazzed. Then I painted an ornament for a member of the MST3K discussion board I'm on, and he offered to trade me three episode DVDs for it. Last year was my first artistic commission, and this was the first time I've ever been compensated for one of my ornaments. I'm kind of excited about that.

New Year's was cool - I got invited to go to the church's singles event, which was my first singles anything. I'd heard rumors that the group was mostly re-single people, and as a 26-year-old I kind of would rather hang out with people my age than 40-something divorcees. But the improv troupe they brought in was kind of cool, and the stand-ups (Christian stand-ups with real LA credentials!) were hilarious. Then we rang in 2011 with noisemakers and the Cha-Cha Slide. That was interesting... Everybody was nice, and there seemed to be some people my age there - I think I'll keep going and see what happens. I mean, if I can't get a job, maybe I can get a boyfriend, right? :P

In royalty news, the Crown Princess of Denmark had her twins on Saturday - one boy and one girl. In Denmark, nobody knows a child's name until the mother speaks it at the christening, which isn't for about three months. So being an onomastic (one who likes names and what they mean) I get to play the guessing game until about March/April. Until then, some people are calling them Elvis and Shirley, after a joke Crown Prince Frederik made about naming the boy Elvis (since the twins share a birthday with Elvis Presley), and Shirley Bassey, another singer with a January 8th birthday, but I'm calling them Lilleprinsen ("Little Prince") and Lillepigen ("Little Girl"), after the nicknames the Danish press gave their older siblings Prince Christian and Princess Isabella. Regardless, it's a far sight happier news than what really covered the airwaves over the weekend. Also, I found a Swarovski crystal ring that resembles a certain famous British royal engagement ring at the mall and splurged on it for myself. It was only $25, so that's not too bad, and it has two more "diamonds" around the edge than Catherine's, so there. I love wearing it. It's so sparkly.

Finally, I am including a meme I snagged from apple_pathways , which means you finally get to hear my voice!

( Here's the meme: )

Got tagged by litlover12 , so here we go:

Instructions:
1. write down every letter of your name.
2. then type a song that pops up in your mind in each letter of your name as the first letter.
count the letters of your name, and tag that many people.

R -- Reel Around the Sun - Riverdance
O -- One Normal Night - Addams Family Original Broadway Cast
B -- Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Y -- You're the Reason - Antigone Rising
N -- Never Let You Go - Jakaranda

Since some of these are rather obscure, I've included YouTube links.

And now I tag annaxbanana , apple_pathways , narniadear , neemarita , and retrostarfish .

middlegirl's Halloween party:
(swiped from rengeek )


apple_pathways dressed as a character from a Super Mario game.

bethanydp dressed as the Hurt Power Ranger.

darth_firefly dressed as Guy Fawkes but the exploding barrel of dynamite didn't go down too well.

gonzo1385 dressed as Worf from "Star Trek".

housemaid79 dressed as a walking Guillotine.

imweirdlikethat dressed as Ozzy Osbourne.

kimana83 dressed as a 1980's yuppie child.

litlover12 dressed as Josephine Baker but the banana "skirt" didn't survive the night.

narniadear dressed as the love child of Harrison Ford and Dolly Parton, and it suited them disturbingly well.

neemarita dressed as Ken Jennings.

rengeek dressed as Marie Antoinette going to her death.

retrostarfish dressed as Barney the dinosaur, and it suited them all too well.

scarletumbrella dressed as Mde. Lachienne Foutue d'Enfer -- you don't wanna know.

spamandtoast dressed as a kicker for the Patriots.

speakerwiggin dressed as a Level 6 bard.

taraljc dressed as dressed as a character from a Final Fantasy game, though it looked more like a new superhero: Scarlet Gal.





Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
Created by sigma7: More info here.

(German for "I'm bored." Why know bits of several languages if you don't use them?)

I was cruising through past entries because I have little better to do (I officially gave up on Big Brother tonight, since the one player I was still rooting for got evicted. The rest of the house is full of useless fools and catty people), and realized that half of my Epic Music Post Meme of Doom! from almost a year ago was still unidentified, and - not that you all were losing sleep over it - I should share the answer sheet, if for no other reason than to share my eclectic taste in music.

( Here you go... )

From no posts to two posts in one day? Shock and amazement! 

Oh, how easily I am pushed around by new friends. There was a friending meme at community_tv  last night, in which I found and was found by some very nice-seeming ladies. narniadear  posted an introduction meme, and told all her friends to fill it out. Which I am. Both a friend and filling it out, that is. To be honest, an introduction post is a good idea, even for those who I've known for a while. It's always nice to learn things about your friends.

And so I give you Things You May Have Never Known About Me and May Not Have Thought to Ask, aka:

( The Crazy LiveJournal Meme )



Your turn!

Yeah, I know it's been forever since I posted, but work's getting crazy, and I really hate posting on my grandparents' computer. Hopefully the end is in sight (no "here's when you go home" date set yet), because I'm feeling kinda burned out today.

Anyway, this looked fun. Got it from litlover12 .

 

you are paleturquoise #AFEEEE

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is low - You stay out of stressful situations and advise others to do the same. You may not be the go-to person when something really needs done, but you know never to blow things out of proportion. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Didn't think of myself as any sort of a blue, but whatev - I think it describes me pretty well.

Litlover12 has given me the Beyond Your Imagination Award! Thanks!

Since this award's got rules, I now have to name eight stories or books that I would like to live in for two weeks, and then pass the award on to eight other deserving bloggers. Decisions, decisions... especially since so many of my favorite stories could end up with me dying horribly at the hands of Something Horrible, like Henry VIII or zombies...

Eight stories (I'm also counting movies or TV) I'd love to live in for 2 weeks (heck, I could live in them forever!)... and in no particular order other than how they come off my head:

1. Narnia (movie Narnia, please)
2. The Middleman
3. Doctor Who (yeah, I know, but seriously, to travel through time and space and have adventures? Sign me up.)
4. Mystery Science Theater 3000
5. Beauty and the Beast (I want that library.)
6. Much Ado About Nothing
7. Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? (yes, it was a proper cartoon show; this is my inner child talking)
8. The Young Victoria (dresses and tiaras!)

Now for 8 deserving bloggers. This will be much easier. Also in no particular order (okay, the order they came off my friends list AKA alphabetical order):

1. gonzo1385 
2. kimana83 
3. litlover12 (had to give it back to you!)
4. neemarita 
5. retrostarfish 
6. spamandtoast 
7. speakerwiggin 
8. taraljc 

(PS If you're on this list and see this post, hooray. I'll still comment in your journal, but I have stuff to do this afternoon. Your comments are coming. :D)

India Foxtrot Yankee Oscar Uniform Charlie Alpha November Uniform November Delta Echo Romeo Sierra Tango Alpha November Delta Tango Hotel India Sierra, Charlie Oscar Papa Yankee Alpha November Delta Papa Alpha Sierra Tango Echo India Tango Tango Oscar Yankee Oscar Uniform Romeo Lima India Victor Echo Juliet Oscar Uniform Romeo November Alpha Lima.

New meme: Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

litlover12  asked and I answered:

1. What would you say is the best episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"?
2. And speaking of MST3K, the classic question: Joel or Mike?
4. For a romantic pairing, do you prefer Middleman/Wendy or Middleman/Lacey? Or are romantic pairings overrated and would you rather have them all be just friends?
5. I know you paint ornaments -- what other kinds of arts and/or crafts do you do?

Ooh, it's been a while since I did a good meme. Got this one from scarletumbrella.

The rules:
1. Open a music player.
2. Go to 'all music'/'library'.
3. Hit shuffle/repeat/randomise.
4. Find photos of the first 30 artists/bands that come up (no repeats and no cheating).
5. Have people guess who the artists/bands are.
6. Paste this in your journal and do it too, so I can have fun guessing as well.


( Do you accept the challenge? )