I'm working on a new project. I bought this book called A Christmas Conversation Piece - it's a book of holiday-related conversation prompts, and starting sometime today, I'll be posting them, and using them as essay fodder. Anyone who wants to play along with me, is welcome, indeed ENCOURAGED to do so. Link will be posted later.

This paragraph cross-posted to Uber-Caffeinated

I'm trying to convince Fuzzy that I NEED the Hogwarts Express train set to put around our Christmas tree.

Wish me luck.

Okay, so it's not a windmill, but when you're five feet tall a seven-foot plastic Christmas tree can be just as daunting as one of Cervantes' evil wind-machines.

Translation: I feel yucky, so I'm going to slay the yuckiness by putting the ornaments on the tree, now that I've lived with it, just lit, for almost a week.

I had thought to invite folks over for help, but it's such a full week next week and I've been so tired/queasy/strange-feeling, that I just want a weekend of quiet and reflection.

I hope everyone else's weekend goes well.

(P.S. Hey, , I've joined your mood posse for this one. But I still think “prickly” should be one of their options.)

I saw this first at either or 's LJ, but I'm actually taking it from .

It should not be assumed that items are listed in order of rank.

THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND
1. Parents who don't discipline their children.
2. That whole 10 hotdogs/eight buns thing.
3. The appeal of “reality” television.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME
1. Lime green polyester.
2. The erosion of civil rights.
3. Spiders.

THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN
1. To speak French, fluently.
2. Same for Italian.
3. To draw.

THREE THINGS I AM WEARING RIGHT NOW
1. My Fossil Kaleidoscope watch.
2. A very comfy new bra (striped, red/black/grey/white)
3. Really old Ryka sneakers, partly chewed by Cleo.

THREE THINGS ON MY DESK (table)
1. Coffee mug of pens.
2. Metal cellist sculpture.
3. VSD “still the prettiest” coffee mug.

THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE
1. Publish a novel or a regular column.
2. Design a line of comfortable career clothing for geek women.
3. Become independantly wealthy.

THREE GOOD THINGS ABOUT MY PERSONALITY
1. I'm (relatively) calm, most of the time.
2. I'm honest.
3. I'm witty.

THREE BAD THINGS ABOUT MY PERSONALITY
1. I'm mercurial.
2. I tend to babble.
3. I'm impatient.

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE
1. Italian
2. German
3. Susan

THREE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT MY BODY
1. Eyes
2. Hair
3. Feet

THREE THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT MY BODY
1. Teeth
2. Height
3. Hands

THREE THINGS MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME (until now)
1. I love model trains.
2. After a lifetime of being mainly agnostic, I'm starting to explore religion/faith/spirituality.
3. I whistle when I'm happy.

THREE THINGS I SAY THE MOST
1. “Apparently…”
2. “Hello?”
3. “No, Mom, you do not have the plague.”

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO
1. Marseilles
2. Finland
3. An Alaskan cruise.

I first heard about it one morning in Starbucks. The woman ahead of me in line was talking with the baristas as she waited for her nonfat latte, and mentioned that she'd found a great source for hard-to-please or already-has-everything family members. “It's very cool,” she told us. “It's this website where you can donate a cow in someone else's name.”

The website is Alternative Gifts International and while you can't really (at least in this year's catalogue) buy a cow, you can donate money to be used for a pig or an ox (for a family in Uganda) or a day of tutoring (for a child in LA) or textbooks for kids in Haiti, or water purification equipment for folks in Tanzania.

I'm all for donating to worthy causes, and pleasing people at the same time, and while I won't necessarily do any giftgiving from AGI this year, I'm intrigued enough to post about it, thus creating an instant reminder.

Cross-posted to Pensieri Casuali

Originally seen in 's LJ, but stolen from and now updated with four items snagged from

Also, my formative years were split between New Jersey, Colorado and Central California, with Northern California and South Dakota affecting my speech patterns later.
* * *

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? Creek (rhymes with seek)

2. What's the thing you push around the grocery store/supermarket? Cart, rarely wagon, never with a modifier like 'shopping' or 'grocery'

3. A metal container to carry a meal in? Lunch box
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? Frying pan, unless it's specifically a cast iron skillet (though I only use those for cornbread)

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? Couch
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? Gutter

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? Front porch, back patio, though my grandmother had a back stoop (i.e. it was basically 3×3 feet, and had two steps down to the back yard.)

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? Soda

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? Pancake

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself?Hoagie, or sub.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? Trunks

12. Shoes worn for sports? Sneakers

13. Putting a room in order? Straightening.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? Firefly

15. The little insect arthropod that curls up into a ball? Roly-poly

16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down? Teeter-totter

17. How do you eat your pizza? With my hands, after first blotting away the oil, and, if the slice is large, folding it in half. Point-first for wedge-shaped pizzas. Good crust is eaten, bad crust is fed to the dogs. And in my world, there is no such thing as “pan” or “deep dish” pizza. Ick!

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? Garage sale

19. What's the evening meal? Supper or dinner, used interchangeably.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? These are rare in California, but my natural inclination is to call them a cellars.

21. Place where you put your towels to dry, above the boiler?
Don't have a boiler. I use a dryer, and sometimes a clothesline.

22. Piece of cloth with which you wash your face? Washcloth.

23. Day after Christmas? December 26th

24. Thing women (mostly) use to tie their hair?
To tie ribbon, I guess. To otherwise pull back, rubber band (which includes covered rubber bands) or scrunchie (which is generic for fabric over sewing elastic (as opposed to a rubber band))