My life in song titles

I stole this meme from Gubbinal. I've selected Radiohead as my group, although I was tempted to choose the Beatles.

Here are the rules: "Pick an artist, and using ONLY SONG TITLES from only that artist, cleverly (preferably) answer these questions. This is harder than it seems! (Well, that kinda depends who you pick."

1. Are you a male or female:

"I Might Be Wrong"

2. Describe yourself:

"Paranoid Android"

3. How do you feel about yourself:

"Bulletproof...I wish I was"

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:

"Creep"

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation:

"Optimistic"

6. Describe your current location

"In Limbo"

7. Describe where you want to be:

"How to Disappear Completely"

8. Your best friend(s) is

"Where I end and You Begin"

9. Your favourite colour is:

"Black Star"

10. You know that

"Down is the New Up"

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called

"Worrywart"

13. What is life to you:

"Push/Pull Revolving Doors"

14. What is the best advice you have to give

a toss up between "Sit Down Stand Up" and "Anyone Can Play Guitar"

25 Things About Me--The Musical Edition

1. I have almost no musical skill despite having years of formal musical instruction in clarinet, guitar, saxophone, trombone, and flute. I can read music but I can’t keep time.

2. I also learned to play the Scottish bagpipes. These are a much easier instrument than the others as there are only nine notes. But I still can’t keep time.

3. I can’t sing either.

4. With very few exceptions, my knowledge of popular music does not include any bands or songs released after 1996.

5. I can’t stand Boston (the band, not the city). My dislike is visceral. Their music literally makes my stomach hurt.

6. ELO is a guilty pleasure. I love it when one of their songs comes on the radio, and I will turn it up and hum or sing along.

7. I would say that Franz Ferdinand is my “favorite” band at the moment.

8. Past favorite bands have been U2, Simple Minds, REM, and Radiohead.

9. The Beatles? I loved their music then, I love it now, and I will love it in the future.

10. AC/DC is another guilty pleasure.

11. Three bands that I loved in high school but was too “cool” to admit it are Duran Duran (didn’t want to be associated with the girls who wanted to marry Simon Le Bon), Def Leppard (didn’t want to be associated with the boys I thought were jerks), and Huey Lewis and the News (because I thought I couldn’t be cool and like this band).

12. The bedroom in our Seattle apartment was right next door to an English pub which piped music from the jukebox to the outdoor patio. Even with the windows closed, we could clearly hear the jukebox selections. From the time the Verve released their song “Bittersweet Symphony’ in 1997 to October 2006 when we moved, we heard that damn song no fewer than three times Every. Single. Night. Amazingly, I still like the song but Oscar would be very happy if he never had to hear it again.

13. However, I would be very happy if I never had to hear “Hotel California” again. I have hit my lifetime limit on that song.

14. I’ve also hit my lifetime limit for “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus. This is a very painful thing for this former Goth to admit to herself.

15. Most people can list their favorite songs, and even rank them all but I used to work with a guy who had a list of his five least favorite songs, in order. I can’t remember his entire list but number one (least liked) was “Scarborough Fair” by Queensryche.

16. I really loved Blondie when I was a kid, and when I got older I really liked the Pretenders. I thought Debbie Harry was cool but I wanted to BE Chrissie Hynde.

17. My favorite Beatles song has always been “I am the Walrus”. It’s so weird!

18. I have been trying for the past 10 years to develop an appreciation for opera and I am making progress.

19. Not knowing how to play guitar is an advantage when playing Guitar Hero.

20. A few years ago, I got Franz Ferdinand’s first CD and the Hobbit video game at about the same time. I listened to this CD endlessly while playing that game and to this day, whenever I hear any song off that CD, I get a mental image of maneuvering Bilbo Baggins through that game. Every. Single.Time.

21. I don’t think I’m passionate about music but some songs have made me literally stop everything I’m doing in order to listen to the song: “The Quiet Man” by Jonny Hardie and Gavin Marwick (Scottish folk song medley), “Vocalise” composed by Wojceich Kilar and sung by Sumi Jo, and “Hallelujah” covered by Jeff Buckley.

22. I have never been able to listen to “Neroli” by Brian Eno. I swear there is something subliminal in that composition that makes me grind my teeth and finally stop the CD because I literally can’t stand it anymore. But the music is not overtly annoying and I can’t tell you what bothers me so much.

23. I’ve never been able to develop an appreciation for King Crimson, although I feel like I ought to.

24. My favorite movie soundtrack is “The Ninth Gate” composed by Wojceich Kilar. The movie isn’t very good but the music is incredible. I bought this CD just for the theme song (see #21) but every track is great.

25. I think “The Ideal Copy” from Wire and “Sons and Fascination” by Simple Minds have stood the test of time.

I thought memes were passe but not on Facebook...

'cept on Facebook, they're called "notes" and it seems they are the second most popular thing for people to do, only slightly less popular than sending coffee/drink/plants/superpokes to people. 

Anyway, here's the latest:

This is the Layer Cake, covering different parts of your life.


11 Layers of Me

--Layer One: On the Outside

Name:: Lee (my last name)
Birthday:: January 18
School:: University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA (undergrad); University of Washington, Seattle, WA (grad)
Major:: Geology (undergrad)/Scandinavian Studies (grad--unfinished)
Minor:: none
Current Location: Tacoma, WA
Eye Color:: Blue-grey
Hair Color:: brown
Righty or Lefty:: Lefty, baby!
Zodiac Sign:: Capricorn

--Layer Two: On the Inside

Your Heritage:: Northern European mix--German, Norwegian, Scottish
Your Fears:: Rats
Weakness:: sweets, video games, yarn
Goal:: day to day goal--to make it to work on time, long term goal--to finish graduate school
Regrets:: dropping out of grad school, taking financial advice from someone dearly unqualified
Change one thing about your life:: learn to wake up early on a regular basis
Relieve Stress:: I'd really like some tips on this, 'cuz right now even alcohol isn't working
Hardest thing ever dealt with: realizing it really was me, not you
What upsets you:: duplicity
Vent about something:: I really wish my neighbor's would stop parking their two ton truck on my lawn AND pick up their dog's shit from my lawn

--Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Your thoughts first waking up:: How many hours before I can go back to bed?
Your bedtime:: 11ish
Your most missed memory:: staying up late with Katze, talking to the wee hours.

--Layer Four: You’re picking

Pepsi or Coke:: Jarritos Tamarindo 
McDonald's or Burger King:: I have a weakness for McDonald's Happy Meals.
Single or Group dates:: Group
Adidas or Nike:: Keens
Lipton Tea or Nestea:: freshly steeped Sencha from Peet's
Chocolate or Vanilla: strawberry
Cappuccino or Coffee:: coffee, black


--Layer Five: Do You?

Do Drugs:: besides Tylenol?
Have a crush:: only on various actors, although I had a lovely dream about the lead singer from Franz Ferdinand the other night.
Think you've been in love:: I know I have
Want to get married:: already am.
Believe in yourself:: More than I used to, not as much as I wish
Think you're a health freak:: I have a healthy diet. 

--Layer Six: In the Past Month

Drank alcohol: Yes
Gone to the mall:: dear god, no.
Eaten Sushi:: Yes
Gone skating:: does slipping on ice count?
Dyed your hair:: Yes
Done something exciting:: I met with a college friend who was on town for business. A lovely evening!

--Layer Seven: Have You Ever?

Played a stripping game:: nope
Gotten beaten up:: Yes, more than once.
Changed who you were to fit in:: Sadly, yes. I don't think it worked, though.
Hid something from someone:: Yes, and I'm not telling you.

--Layer Eight: Getting Old

Age your hoping to be married:: I got married at age 24.
Age to start having children:: not likely 
Want to travel to:: pick a place, and I will likely want to visit there.

--Layer Nine: Perfect Mate

Best Eye Color:: brown
Best Hair Color:: no real preference
Short or Long Hair:: as long as it's well groomed, the length makes no difference. Even bald is fine (but comb-overs are not.)

--Layer Ten: What were you doing...

1 MINUTE AGO:: letting the dogs in 
1 HOUR AGO::enjoying a beer at Harmon's
1 DAY AGO:: lounging around in my PJs, staving off a cold
1 YEAR AGO:: nothing stands out

--Layer Eleven: Finish the Sentence

I LOVE:: my  husband, my friends, and my pets
I FEEL:: stressed out
I HATE:: being stressed out
I HIDE:: my anger
I MISS:: my friends
I NEED:: to start going for walks again

insomnia inspired meme

I'm not tagging anyone, but I'd be happy to read your own answers in a comment. 

1. Magazines Subscribed To: Archaeology, Current World Archaeology, Atlantic Monthly, Interweave Knits, Piecework, Vogue Knitting.  The Atlantic Monthly and Vogue Knitting will probably not be renewed. Vogue Knitting because I don't think it's as interesting as I'd thought it would be and Atlantic Monthly because I never get around to reading it even though I know it's one of the good cerebral magazines to actually subscribe to. Yes, this seems like a lot of magazines but all except for Atlantic Monthly are bimonthly or quarterly so it's not like I'm overwhelmed with glossy paper. 

2. Aside from knitting, my favorite pastimes are: reading, writing, listening to audiobooks, playing video games

3. If I were not a _____________(insert your own profession here), I'd be a: dudes, trust me when I tell you I never dreamt about being a transportation engineer when I was a kid, or even an adult for that matter. Good grief, I didn't even study engineering in the university! (I did get a degree in Geology, as well as do graduate study in Scandinavian Literature, because Geology so obviously leads to literary studies.)  But I'd still love to be a university professor. 

4. I am irrationally worried about: my car catching on fire. 

5. If I were the opposite sex: I'd probably never really appreciate the awesomeness of being able to pee standing up. (Ok, as a female, I certainly can pee standing up, so I should qualify this by saying "peeing standing up without drenching yourself in your own urine".)

6. The thing I miss most about childhood is: y'know, I don't really miss being a kid. There's really nothing about either the emotional or physical stages of childhood that I'm nostalgic about. Well, I wouldn't mind being flat-chested again...but now that I think about it, I used to have a really powerful and creative imagination, which I'd love to have again. I don't really think I have an imagination anymore; that's been replaced by daydreams and fantasies. Not unpleasant, but not the same. 

7. I like to collect: I'm trying not to collect anything but I seem to constantly acquire new knitting paraphenelia, whether it's yarn or needles or stitch markers. I also have a talent for acquiring homeless animals. 

8. Though I've never been there, I feel inexplicably homesick for: New Zealand. I cannot explain my love for this place. (And this existed before the Lord of the Rings films, thank you very much)

9. I've never really liked to eat: I'm not a picky eater but I'm not a big fan of pie. (Pumpkin pie excluded but even then I usually just eat the pumpkin custard and leave the bottom and edge crusts.) 

10. When I have nightmares, they are usually about:  I don't have nightmares because that would require an imagination. I just have anxieties, and that usually centers around a loss of independence.