I haven’t been on the Saturday 9 in a couple weeks – first for personal issues going on here, and then last week I was away at a stitching retreat.  So… hiya!  I’m back.  :)

Saturday 9: Medicate

1. Do you take a lot of medication? Thankfully no.  I take two antihistamines to cover my sinus allergies and my dermatographia every day, but that’s it.

2. Name one of your flaws and tell us about it. One of the worst flaws I have is a chronic nail-biting habit.  I keep it under control by getting fake nails put on.  For some reason, as long as I have the fake ones on, I don’t try to bite.  As soon as something starts go to wrong with one of them, it’s trouble.

I know it’s a nasty habit and I’ve tried to break it, but it’s nearly impossible.  They say that 3 weeks will break a habit?  Not with this – I  had fake nails glued on for a year straight, then took them off to take a rest – and went right back to stress biting.

So yeah – the nails stay “capped” as it were.  With pretty, non-traditional colors whenever possible.  (OPI’s “Ink” today, for the record)

3. Have you ever won first place? If yes, tell us about your victory! Aside from a couple of little field day things in early elementary school, no.  I’ve always been good at things, but I rarely come in first.  I’m the second placer most of the time.  :)

4. Who is the last person to make you smile? What was happening? My husband, Erich – tickling the belly of our alpha male cat, Gus.  Gus thinks he’s huge and vicious and he was furious that Erich could remind him so easily how small he was.  Seriously – Gus would eat both of us if he were big enough.  He thinks he’s a panther.  Too bad he’s only a 15 pound one and can’t do the damage he thinks he can.

5. Describe a time when you should have tried harder. Honestly – I don’t live with should haves/could haves.  It would destroy me since I’m already a person who lives with incredible self-doubt.  I’m sure there are plenty of times where I should have tried harder at something – but I didn’t for whatever reason.

6. What are you best at? I’m exceptionally good at multitasking and keeping other people organized at work, right down to having one of those memories that can recall tiny little bits of trivia that may not matter in the long-run.

I wish that I could apply that at home!

7. If someone was going to make a movie or TV show about your life, who would play you and why? It would be a little hard to match me – few actresses are fat like me, so I can’t quite picture anyone.  For a thinner version of me, perhaps Jodie Foster when she was younger?  It would need to be someone who can play the all American girl with a little bit of an edge, a lot more brainier than bombshell.

8. Name 3 things that you think are strange. plastic surgery, iguanas as pets, religious fundamentalism

9. What is one lesson you have learned in the past 12 months? Friends who don’t respect boundaries of behavior toward me are not friends at all (and probably never were).

Saturday 9: I Saw It on TV

1. What new TV show rocks your world this year? It’s not actually a new show, but it’s new to me – Dexter.  Amazing writing, fantastic characters, and incredibly twisted.

2. What is your least favorite ethnic food, and what makes it your least favorite? I honestly can’t think of one. I may have least favorite dishes, but I find something I like in every ethnic cuisine I try.  Maybe okra?  Stuff’s slimy and yukky as hell.

3. When does liking someone a lot become loving that person? When you realize that there’s a part of you that is fulfilled by that person, and you’d be damaged permanently if they were gone.

4. Is there a job you would do for free, and is it your current job? I would not do my job for free.  I would probably stitch for free.  :)  Maybe do gardening and baking, too.

5. What is one person/thing that inspired you to take action of some sort?  My grandparents were very influential to me – they came to the US with nothing and worked incredibly hard.  They taught me that with hard work and determination, you can be successful.

6. Though you might not believe in it, would you like fate to exist? I think it depends on what would be determined by fate.  Some fateful things seem pretty negative out there.  I’d hate for someone to have that pre-determined from birth.

7. Tell us about a news story that truly shocked you. You know?  I’ve gotten so numb to the news, I honestly can’t think of anything that shocked me.  News from my friends and family, yes, but nothing in the news shocks me anymore.

8. What’s something you’re looking forward to? My week of vacation from work is a week away – and the latter half of that will be spent stitching at a retreat.  Can. Not. Wait.

9. What characteristics do you despise? Backstabbing, vindictive, slimy people.  I’ve had my fill of them recently.

Saturday 9: Margaritaville

1. Tell us about a time that you had way too much Jose Cuervo. Actually, I don’t really like tequila, so I’ve never had enough where I could classify it as “too much.”  Now rum or vodka on the other hand… oh, lordy.  There was that time that I managed to get so plastered that I wound up in the service elevator at the Back Bay Sheraton in Boston.  Oooh, that was not a good night.

2. Do you agree with the following statement: “The older you get, the faster time goes by.”? Absolutely. Case in point – what the heck happened to January?  I mean really – wasn’t yesterday New Year’s Day?

3. What do you usually do during your “down time?” I cross stitch through most of it.  Or I play World of Warcraft.  Usually the former, though – it helps me quiet my brain and forces me to slow down and relax.

4. When it comes to the opposite sex, do you feel you have a grasp on ‘em – or do they continue to just surprise you? I think I have a pretty good grasp.  But of course, there are always surprises.  Life needs surprises to make it interesting.

5. What is your home town famous for? My hometown is Billings, Montana.  I don’t know that it’s famous for anything itself, but it’s the largest city in Montana and a major tourism hub for people heading to Yellowstone Park, Battle of the Bighorn National Monument (formerly Custer Battlefield), and several fishing, hunting, and skiing areas.

6. How many romantic relationships have you had? Three that I’d qualify as relationships.

7. What’s the best concert that you’ve ever been to? It’s a toss-up between the two U2 concerts I’ve been to (PopMart or 360), or the first time I saw Billy Joel at the Fleet Center.  All were fantastic in their own ways.

8. Which famous person would you like to meet? Why? I really would like to meet Obama.  I admire the man who worked his ass off to get where he is, and to see his determination to get up every day to do his job despite the nastiness directed toward him from so many of his fellow citizens.

9. Has a newspaper or television reporter ever interviewed you? If so, what were the circumstances and what did you think when you read or saw what you said? I’ve been interviewed a couple times (both for TV and for the paper).  All for school-related things.  I honestly don’t recall what I thought when I read them – I’m sure I was excited.  I suppose the fact that I can’t remember it means that nothing went badly!

Happy weekend!

- Mel.

Thank you to all of the lovely commenters who have stopped by in the last week.  :)  I’ve been popping by journals as I’ve had time over the work week.  Tomorrow morning with coffee I’ll be stopping by everyone else’s journals who left a link.

Saturday 9: What a Fool Believes

1. What celebrity do you think is the MOST foolish? Oh gosh, where do you start?  Honestly, I am not a celebrity watcher.  I have a couple that I enjoy in movies/TV shows/etc, but otherwise, I don’t even follow their lives.  That said, I think Joaquin Phoenix is on a high list of foolish celebs.  He threw away a good acting career that really was just getting firm to go off on some random tangent.  Whether it was for a part or not, it was foolish and just a complete WTF.  Why throw away a successful career like that?

2. What are 5 things you don’t care about? Celebrities, playing the power-game to go up the ladder in my career, the whole “keeping up with the Joneses” phenomenon, shopping (unless for necessities), the what’s hot/not thing.

3. What ‘issue’ do you think your opinion is so right about that you end up trying to sway others to your point of view? I think I’m too intimidated by confrontation to really try to sway people, and I honestly don’t think it works.  I will express my opinions (which are quite strong) on adoption, abortion rights, and minority faith rights.

4. What personality do you like to listen to on the radio? No preferences.  I don’t listen to the radio often. Usually when we’re in the car, we have WBZ on so we can get traffic reports.

5. What culture are you fascinated by? India.  I think the depth of history and all of the complexities of the society are fascinating – both its good and bad aspects.

6. You are alone with your lover’s diary. What do you do?  Nothing.  I’d leave it alone.

7. What frustrates you? I confess to being one of those people who gets very frustrated with those who can’t keep up.  I sometimes forget that not everyone is fast on picking up routines/rhythms and can’t adapt like I can.

8. Do you remember the first time you were on the internet? What did you do first? The first time I was on the internet as we know it today was 1993 at Boston University.  I don’t doubt I was setting up and sending email.  But I had been on Prodigy before then (account #FFRF97B, baby!) and on local BBS all the way back to 1983.

9. What was the biggest fight you have ever had with someone? I’ve had a few bad fights, and they were all equally big but played out differently.  I don’t really care to recall them anymore.

I’m going to try out a few weekly memes… so forgive me as I experiment.  :)

1. Have you ever been to Japan? If not would you like to travel there? I haven’t been to Japan, but I definitely would like to go someday.  I’ve looked at history books and photo books of Japan since my early days of reading (there was a book in the school library I was particularly fond of).

2. Have you ever played a game that required removal of clothing? I’ve played strip poker.  And lost.  Badly.  Granted – when you have nine guys and two girls, the results are going to be a tad skewed.

3. Have you ever dated one of your best friends? Yes.  Most recently my husband.

4. Have you ever kissed someone you didn’t know? Not in a romantic sense, no.  The whole European kiss-kiss on the cheek?  A few times, usually at the Polish-American gatherings at my grandpa’s house.

5. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie? It wouldn’t be a secret if I revealed it, would it?  :)

6. What feature are you most insecure about? Since weight technically isn’t a feature… probably my nose.  My nose is somewhat crooked, and I’ve always been self-conscious about it.  And the funny thing is that I seriously doubt anyone really notices it.

7. What do you miss most about being young? The absolute obliviousness about the world around them.  Although I don’t know – maybe kids today aren’t getting that.  But as a kid in the 1980s, life was pretty damn good.

8. Who is the most annoying musical artist EVER? Annoying, disgusting?  Tough call.  Brittney Spears comes to mind.  Fergie comes to mind.  Usually if they’re annoying, I just turn the dial and ignore them.

9. Have you ever applied for a job that was an internet hoax, asking for credit history and your social security number? No.  Thankfully.  The closest I’ve come is one of those god-awful magazine scams.