Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!

To do this, copy this entire message, create a new note, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours. Easy peasy!

Next, tag 8 people (in the right hand corner of the app). Click publish (at the bottom). Have fun! :)

( What was the last thing you put in your mouth... )

From my high school English teacher via Facebook:

Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

( The list... )

In this survey, you have to imagine that there is some overwhelming reason that you MUST complete each task. If it helps, imagine that doing so will save a loved one from certain doom. Assume that all costs will be prepaid for each item, so you don't have to worry about how much any of this costs. No matter what, though, you MUST choose something for each item. No hedging—just answer the question.

( You MUST get a tattoo... )

From tankfreak, a survey of sorts--tell me about you:

( Read more... )

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?! 'Have you ever kissed someone? Missed someone? Told someone you loved them? Drank alcohol?' 49 questions for the people who are a little older...

( What bill do you hate paying the most? )

Yes. Another meme. Not feeling like writing anything beyond a short description of how I'd like to punch anyone and everyone I meet in the balls. So, yeah...meme:

( Four things... )

From coffeeachiever: Think of 10 albums, CDs, LPs (if you're over 40) that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 10 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!
( Herbert von Karajan... )

The Rules? Only one rule. Two men enter, one man leaves. OK, here's another rule. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Anyway, I made up 25 pieces of trivia about me. There are an additional 2 that are true...ish. Go ahead and figure out which is which.

IF YOU DARE.

Or not. Really, I don't care. This is just me getting all meta on Facebook (or LJ). Enjoy!

( 25 Untrue and 2 Unexpectedly True Things About Me... )

Magic 8 Ball

1. Put iTunes/WMP/iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, advance to the next song.
3. Write down the song name no matter how stupid your friends are going to think it is.
4. Tag 5 or more friends + the person who sent it.

I'm not tagging anyone.

( If someone says... )

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you OR I've already read yours and think we have a lot in common.

Honestly, I'm not going to tag anyone because either you've already been tagged or you're getting tired of this whole thing...

( I've done this before... )

Here are the rules - post this list on your profile replacing my answers with yours. Paste and copy to your notes

Tag 10 people to do the same thing, plus the one who sent it to you. **

( WERE YOU NAMED... )
Tag: tankfreak, destructogirl30, truexena, countessmary, ifuwereafrog, and whoever the hell else wants to do this.

iPod, WinAmp, doesn't matter. If I tagged you, put your playlist on shuffle and tell me what the next 10 songs are. Then tag 10 of your friends and ask them to do the same.

Because, as we all know, you are what you listen to.

( Results... )

From taraljc, ( Name 5 things from science fiction's vision of the future that you wish you had now... )

If there are one or more people on your Friends List who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

Copy this sentence into your LiveJournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

From the excellent dinner companion, ifuwereafrog, answer here and repost a blank one on your own journal:

( Questions under the cut )

Taking my previous post as instruction, I compiled ( a list of 75 things I'd like to do before I die... )

THE RULES:

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favourite lyric to your current favourite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like.
I'll respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.</li>
2. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
3. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
4. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

From countessmary, ( my first set of questions... )

Home from the Far East (yes, I was just in Hong Kong and Taiwan). I'll likely post about the experience later, but for now, and leeannslytherin take note if you haven't seen it before now, here's my daemon: ( and no, I'm not talking about BSD... )

So last night, I ended up hitting a local bar for their Guitar Hero competition. Having played very little actual Guitar Hero II, I didn't sign up to compete, my primary reason for being there was to meet up with El Guapo, his brother skander, and his other brother who to the best of my knowledge has no sort of blog. I get there somewhat earlier than the rest of the gang and mill about the bar while I wait for the Guapos. At one point one of the competitors walks up to me and asks, "Did you play at the competition at the Independent a long time ago?"

When I reply in the affirmative, he responds: "Dude, you're the reason that I play Guitar Hero!"

I'm not sure what to think of that.


Listening to the morning radio, I learned that the general contractor assigned to do roadwork on I-20 near Atlanta may be fined for exceeding the early-morning time alloted to blocking a lane on the interstate and causing a disproportionate amount of gridlock. Coupled with the recent news that Turner Broadcasting will likely pay some two million dollars for the media and police disruption of Boston as a result of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force viral marketing campaign, it occurs to me that if we're going to make people pay for screwing up traffic, then the purveyors of the Big Dig probably owe the city a pretty penny.


And finally, from countessmary: Bold the series that you've seen for 3 or more episodes. Underline the series that you know for sure (or that you've seen them complete). If you want, add three more series (keep it in alphabetic order).

I added Beauty and the Geek, Cupid, and Psych.

( big list of television series )

Today is Catmas, and while I am violently allergic, I have a deep, abiding fondness for cute, self-reliant pets so here's a picture that my friend Thor took/assembled.

Here's a lyrics meme thing with a twist: None of the lyrics are from the most well-known version of the song. The song could be a cover or a parody or even a live performance by the same artist, but there are minor lyric differences. Name the title and artist, why it's different, and for bonus points, name the more-popular song artist and title, if different.

( On to the lyrics... )

The Rules:
A. Pick 16 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes in your journal.
D. Have those on your friends list try to guess what the movie is.
NO GOOGLING ALLOWED. EITHER YOU KNOW IT OR YOU DON'T.
E. Strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified and place the guesser's username directly after the quote.

( And on with the quotage... )
It's too bad batnandu will get all of these on the first try.

After reading Patrick Hughes talk approvingly of a former classmate's brother's wife in his latest blog post (which, if you have any sense of humor at all, have a high tolerance for hearing about the stupid, stupid immature crap that slightly post-adolescent men like to do to heckle other people, and don't mind repeated mentions of penises and balls, you should totally read), I asked batnandu if he could find a picture of her.

His response:

batnandu: try this:

(1) borrow a camera (possibly even mine)
(2) go to oz's house tomorrow (he wfh fri)
(3) ask oz where anatol's house is
(4) walk to anatol's
(5) if no one's home, camp out at front door
(6) when you see jill, take her picture

thepeopleseason: that's creepy and stalkerish.
thepeopleseason: and I only do that with women I know.

Incidentally, if you're currently in a relationship with me, and you're wondering why I'm seeking to find a picture of another purportedly-attractive woman, well, umm, it's because... he mentioned she was Asian... or something.

Yeah, I got nothing.

And now, ( 50 things meme which is missing two items, for some unknown reason )

A meme from chinook_wind with the stipulation of the letter D: Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

1. digital I am very much a child of technology--I'm a gadget freak, computer programmer, internet addict.
2. drumbone Quite possibly the coolest musical instrument ever.
3. do Or do not; there is no try. All that I have done since getting to Atlanta.
4. dude If batnandu got this as a tattoo, I promised that I'd get "sweet."
5. dark A possible translation of my last name, and what my complexion was like the time my fortune-telling uncle told my father that I should not grow a moustache or beard.
6. dare This is the title of my favorite song from an 80s cartoon movie.
7. desire I am nothing if not a creature of desire.
8. devil Any mention of the word "devil" reminds me either of Grendel or the toast Dream makes with Hob Gadling in Sandman:

   "To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due."

   It's a wonder I didn't fill this meme up with the names of the Endless...
9. dragon Despite everything that's been going on with it this year, I still love DragonCon, and hopefully will be able to go next year.
10. drury I don't know...it's a funny word--funny-looking, funny-sounding--maybe not as much as "turd" but funny still.

I've been sick for the past few days, with some kind of hemorrhagic fever. It might really just be the flu, however, because my co-workers remarked that I wasn't bleeding from my eyes--you know, if I were bleeding from the eyes, I'd like to think that before I went to the hospital, I'd jump into the car and drive to batnandu's workplace and yell out, "DUDE! Check it out! I'm totally bleeding out of my eyes!!"

On Monday night, the Pink Gator came over and brought me some curry noodle soup, and we both watched the second season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Where Silence Has Lease." I commented that it was probably second season, and she finished my thought with "because Worf has short hair and Riker has the beard..."

Later on that night, I pointed to the little bonus sculpture that came with my copy of Return of the King, and asked her, "Do you know what that is?" No, my friends, she answered neither, "I don't know" nor , "that city from Lord of the Rings," but "Minas Tirith" and went on to say, "The tree is missing... too bad..."

Amazing woman, she is.

Now if only she would be into gaming...

And as tagged by amezri, ( A Username Meme )

As tagged by dixiebelle (I killed most of the formatting on this thing):

Guilt	What is yours?	Explain yourself
Culinary:	Eggs	With a cholesterol level near 240, I shouldn't really have a hearty brunch every weekend, but I loves me some good eggs.
Literary:	Manga	Ten dollars a pop for about thirty minutes of entertainment is a bit much, but I love a good, well-drawn story.
Audiovisual:	Cirque du Soleil	280-some dollars is a helluva lot to pay for nose-bleed section seats, but the music and visuals are always so amazing.
Musical:	t.A.T.u.	Singing lesbian schoolgirls. What more can you ask for?
Celebrity:	Emma Watson	Yes, I know that I'm going to hell.

And I tag no one in particular. If you want to do this, feel free...

As requested, ( Four things meme )

Via chinook_wind, ( my PersonalDNA results )

Cleaning is still underway. I fucking love my Roomba.

A new Chinese name renders "tmhsiao" obsolete. thepeopleseason is the artist formerly known as "tmhsiao."

Also, from alienpred18: Give me 4 pieces of advice...

Try and make them poignant... though no one can resist things like "don't eat yellow snow".... I'm really looking for advice from my friends... real advice.

Put this in your LJ if you care to.

And here I thought I could glean some insight into what I should be doing with my life.

From countessmary, my ( What is your Perfect Major Quiz results )

ETA: And according to this test, batnandu's supposition that I'm mildly autistic may very well be true. I rate an above-average 30 autism quotient.

And one more link for my fellow insomniacs...

Tell me what books you read, what music you hear, what company you meet, what thoughts you think. Tell me, my beloved, so that I may read those books, and hear that music, meet those folk, and think those thoughts. Tell me, so that I may know you better by knowing what you know, that I may love you better by loving what you love.
-- jae_w in "Boston Marriage"

I encountered the above quote scrawled on the wall of alienpred18's room when aviationwolf and I visited this past Sunday, and it made me think of a similar quote from The Cider House Rules, which, unfortunately is at home. Since I'm posting that, however, I thought I'd go through the old .sig file randomizer and post ( all the things that used to accompany my Usenet postings )

And then, as tagged by whedonite, ( 5 Guilty Pleasures )

Apparently a number of people read this thing who I have no clue about, so tell me about yourself:

1. Name:
2. Date of birth:
3. Where you live:
4. What makes you happy:
5. Currently listening/the last thing you listened to:
6. Do you read my journal?:
7. If yes, what makes it especially good or bad?:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Are you in love/do you have a crush at the moment?:
10. Favourite place to spend time:
11. Favourite lyric:
12. The best time of the year:

RECOMMEND
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A band, a song, or album:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Look at my friends-list and tell what you like about one of our mutual friends:
4. Put this in your journal so that I can tell you what I like about you

As tagged by whedonite

1. When I brush my teeth, I brush each planar surface of my teeth (outside-top-inside for the back teeth, front and backside for the front teeth) for a ten-count.
   
2. Since I got the new car, I've kept a spreadsheet keeping track of my miles-per-gallon figures on a USB thumbdrive that usually lives on my car keychain.
   
3. I shred just about everything that comes into my house with my address on it. When going through magazines/catalogs that go to the recycling dumpster, I make sure to tear the address completely off and shred it.
   
4. When relaxing while barefoot, I will usually place the tops of my feet opposite one another and intertwine my toes. This freaks many a person out because it looks really weird.
   
5. When faced with various dilemmae (usually of a culinary or what-do-you-want-to-do-now nature), I will commonly ask the parties involved to throw out one finger or two, and the resulting sum dictates the choice we make (i.e. Mexican food if the sum is odd, Chinese food if the sum is even). We don't always stick with the resulting choice--it's just a decision catalyst.

I tag no one.

As tagged by ludditerobot, ( The 20 Questions Meme )

The Devil ludditerobot made me do it:
List 5 reasons why you are a dork. And make them good reasons.
Justify them. Explain them. Be loud and proud about how big of a dork
you are! Then pick the 5 biggest dorks you know and have them do the meme.

1. When composing Livejournal entries and other assorted HTML posts, I make a distinction between my use of <i> tags for titles and <em> tags for other assorted emphasized text. Because there is a difference.
2. Three words and three letters: Taiko Drum Master and DDR (neither of which I play with any degree of skill at all).
3. I've never "picked up" a woman. I was actually struck speechless when a girl asked me to a party when we talked briefly at a condo event. I can't really cold-call a girl without a feeling of abject terror.
4. When a friend asked me to help program an army of bots to play online poker, I declined because I felt it would ruin the "spirit of the game."
5. Some three-to-four months ago, I busted my right pinky finger playing Soul Calibur II against batnandu when the player I was controlling behaved counter to my intended input. I slammed my fist against the coffee table several times, and now my finger has been tender and sore for the past few months.

Now, not necessarily because they're dorks, but I figure they probably have some good stories. If they really want to, they're welcome to: batnandu, flattop, bpeace, katemonkey, chinook_wind.

I met some friends at Udipi Cafe for lunch today, and E. told me the story of how she went for a date at another Indian restaurant. She recounted how she was nervous upon finding the restaurant, because it was in this strip mall with all sorts of teenage hoodlums hanging out in the parking lot. A., the other friend at the table had this to offer:

Yeah, but they were Hindu Hoodlums. They wouldn't even hurt a cow.

And, I've seen it around everywhere. Here's the Top Ten things that I've done that you probably haven't:

1. Played poker with Emmanuel Lewis for real cash.
2. Pet a urine-soaked cat while getting stood up for a date.
3. Considered a commitment-free fatherhood request from a lesbian friend.
4. Had a laser shot into my eye over 1500 times.
5. Almost flunked out of the Accounting program at UF after ditching the majority of Financial and Cost Accounting II classes for the entire semester.
6. Had my mother attribute my near-flunkout to bad Feng Shui.
7. Passed, with flying colors, the Intro to Unix class at UF when only attending the first and last scheduled classes.
8. Been mistaken for a male exotic dancer by my boss' wife.
9. Been dumped on Valentine's Day.
10. Garnered a Master's Degree in Computer Science with a fifty-some-page, unimplemented thesis.

Reading through dealnews20, I found this deal which got me thinking--How do they make bubble levels to hold the perfect amount of liquid so that the bubble just falls within the two lines? Who thought up the bubble level in the first place, 'cause--really?--in the immortal words of those Guinness commercials, Brilliant!

And since these movies keep stumping everyone:

• Described as: Cops' stories around Chinese Take-out place.
  Quote #2: "It was such a relief when I saw it crying. It may look different, but it's still true to itself. It's still an emotionally charged towel." - Officer 633
  
  This is Chungking Express, Wong Kar-Wai's quasi-anthology film starring, in two separate stories, Brigitte Lin (The Bride with White Hair) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers); and Chinese pop-star Faye Wong and Tony Leung (Hero).
  
  
• Described as: Artist with broken heart saves fugitive.
  Quote #9: "She'll only break your heart, it's a fact. And even though I warn you, even though I guarantee you that the girl will only hurt you terribly, you'll still pursue her." - Nora Dinsmoor
  
  "...Ain't love grand?" Alfonso Cuaron's Great Expectations which is lush, exotic, and actually makes the toothpick-thin Gwyneth Paltrow look sexy. I threw my Nora Dinsmoor icon on both movie quizzes, but I guess that was too obvious or something...
  
  
• Described as: London lovers pine, meet, and part.
  Quote #11: "Ruthless trained killers are just a phone call away." - Prime Minister
  
  Love Actually which is on right now as I type this on HBO Signature. I guess I'm just a big ol' sap, but I really love this movie. That Keira Knightley and Laura Linney star certainly doesn't hurt.
  

Since I never actually gave answers to the unguessed quotes from the favorite movies quotes thing I did a few weeks ago, I'll put some more clues up in conjunction with ludditerobot's "Describe your favorite movie in seven words or less" challenge:

1. From quote #2: Cops' stories around Chinese Take-out place.
2. From quote #9: Artist with broken heart saves fugitive.
3. From quote #11: London lovers pine, meet, and part.
4. From quote #12: Reporter falls for incognito Princess.
   Roman Holiday (musesfool)
5. And a bonus movie: Mastermind tricks interrogating cop, disappears.
   The Usual Suspects (musesfool)

• Shakespeare’s writings indicate he may have had syphilis, particularly the sonnet entitled, "Why does it hurt when I pee?"
  
• Man in dog suit OK after being hit by car. Claims no responsibility for man in cat suit stuck in tree across the street
  
• Playboy Playmate in court on assault charges. Witnesses who saw the fight report her karate was good, but they would have rather seen her box
  
• Scientists create sperm magnet, Paris Hilton unavailable for comment
  

And a movie quote meme from ludditerobot:

1. Pick one dozen movies that are ones that you have special feelings about.
2. Pick a few lines of dialogue that mean something to you.
3. As people guess the film, strike out that entry.
4. If possible, after the film is guessed, explain why that movie made the list.

And no "sand" quotes this time...

( The Quotes... )

Birthday wishes to aviationwolf. Don't let that lung infection get you down.

( and the answers to the lyrics thing... )

Here's yet another playlist lyrics thing from just about everybody:

The Rules
1) On your current playlist, hit shuffle and pick the first thirty songs on the list.
2) Write down one line of the song. Try to avoid putting the song title in the line. (I sorta fudged on this one a bit)
3) Have your friends comment and see if they know the songs. (NO CHEATING!)
4) When someone guesses correctly, strike out the line and list the correct name of the song next to it. (Title AND artist have to be correctly guessed.)

( The List )

Stolen from ludditerobot:
(A) First, recommend to me:
1. a movie:
2. a book:
3. a musical artist, song, or album:

(B) I want everyone who reads this to ask me three questions, no more, no less. Ask me anything you want. (No Grail references. It's been done. By ludditerobot.)

(C) Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends to ask you anything & say that you stole it from me.

While a bunch of the gang was originally supposed to hit a local haunted house tonight, most of the group decided not to go, and dammit, I'm relieved. After a week of the daily grind, it's nice to just sit down and do nothing.

And here's a meme from silmaril to dglenn to azurelunatic to mamadeb to thornsilver to musesfool to me:

When you see this, post a bit of poetry in your own journal.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Escribir, por ejemplo: 'La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos.

El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.

En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.

Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Pensar que no la tengo. Sentir que la he perdido.

Oir la noche immensa, más immensa sin ella.
Y el verso cae al alma como al pasto el rocío.

Qué importa que mi amor no pudiera guardarla.
La noche está estrellada y ella no está conmigo.

Eso es todo. A lo lejos alguien canta. A lo lejos.
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Como para acercarla mi mirada la busca.
Mi corazón la busca, y ella no está conmigo.

La misma noche que hace blanquear los mismos arboles.
Nosotros, los de entonces, ya no somos los mismos.

Ya no la quiero, es cierto pero cuánto la quise.
Mi voz buscaba el viento para tocar su oído.

De otro. Será de otro. Como antes de mis besos.
Su voz, su cuerpo claro. Sus ojos infinitos.

Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero tal vez la quiero.
Es tan corto al amor, y es tan largo el olvido.

Porque en noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos,
mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Aunque ésta sea el último dolor que ella me causa,
y éstos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo.
-- Pablo Neruda

Sleep or the couch beckons.

I just implemented this on my friends page. Now I just have to figure out how to automatically cut large images and extended non-breaking text...

You've been there.

There you are, sitting amongst mixed company, obliviously watching a movie or eating dinner--paying little attention to the people around you other than perhaps the conversation at hand. You're engrossed in your surroundings--the plot of the movie, the content of the discussion--when something happens to pull you completely out of context.

It could be a foot or the side of a leg or just the slightest hint of fingers. You wonder to yourself if it really happened, but it happens again. And then you start to wonder what it means.

Incidental Contact.

Now, I don't know about you, but I generally have a good impression of where I am at all times. If I manage to kick something under the table, to step on some object which causes my foot to go off-kilter, I'll check to see if said object is, in fact, someone's foot or shin, and if so, I'll apologize.

So that's why it rather boggles my mind that a continued IC happens--especially in those inappropriate situations (say, like, with someone else's girlfriend or with your second cousin, once-removed (yes, this did happen to me)).

A few years ago, I remember talking with some women regarding IC. They seemed to tell me that there's really no "Incidental" portion to it. If they brushed your arm or your leg, and didn't bring it up, they intended it. It's generally a signal of attraction.

Truth be told, some people are just touchy-feely. Some people are just flirty. I guess my question here is how many people out there have used the "'unconscious' incidental contact" tactic to try to attract someone?

And from ludditerobot, ( a movie meme... )

Played at the Madison Grill on Wednesday with flattop. He played the first round and built a pretty impressive stack, but got blinded out playing too conservatively when they got higher. I had to play at a table with three apparent fish, who were just way too annoying for words. Folding out of turn, questions like "What do I have to put in?" weren't the half of it. The drunk guy who eventually won the table played AKh on a three-hearted flop and had to rely on a large entourage to advise him to go all-in after my opponent bet. Play your own damn cards, guy. If you need someone else to tell you what to do, you should go back to the training table.

My back is somehow killing me. Not sure what exactly I did to it (probably slept awkwardly on a pillow), but it just suddenly started smarting. I suppose slouching in front of the computer screen all day and at a poker table all night doesn't help.

( Answers behind the cut... )