Some days I have "nowt" to say. Some days I have something to say that I think is very important to get out there... but it may not be very entertaining to you, my readers. And then other days my brain is spinning like a top with ideas, words, thoughts, phrases, truths, myths, excitement, and fancies... but there are so many of them tumbling all over one another up there in the gray matter, I have difficulty transcribing them out through my fingers, onto the keyboard, and onto this screen. Today is such a day as that latter one.

So instead of imparting some great info that I had planned to impart to you here, I found this Meme at L'Empress' site today and thought I'd do it, as well. Some people like these Meme-y things. I do sometimes, sometimes I don't, so I'll just take the chance that some of you will, also. Here goes.

Oh, and by-the-bye, I'm doing something a bit different here today. I'm going to keep L'Empress' answers to the Meme right under the actual question, which will be in italics so you can tell them apart from my own, which will follow in bold, straight script.

A. What are your favorite smells?

L'Empress: Ever since I learned that some smells can irritate people, I have tended to avoid them. I use unscented products when I can. Natural smells? A newly mown lawn. Onions slowly browning. There is memory in smells.

Me: Eucalyptus, lavender, and a body lotion called "Amazing Grace" by Philosophy, that I smelled on a former coworker one day when I walked into the office and she was there (she didn't normally work IN our office) and I asked her what that heavenly smell was and she told me it must be her body cream... oh my!

B. Can you go a whole day without caffeine?

L'Empress: I've never shown the symptoms of caffeine deprivation, but I certainly am happier with coffee in the morning.

Me: I CAN - but I won't if I have anything to say about it. Going one day without my one-and-only-cuppa-per-day would produce in my head an explosion of pain the likes of which I don't want to have ever again. I know because I've tried giving it up several times and that caffeine withdrawal headache is the worst!

C. Who knows more about you than anyone else?

L'Empress: I'm not sure that any one person does. I don't share the same information with everyone. My children know me well, but there are subjects I would never discuss with them.

Me: Probably my best friend, Sandy. There are loads of things I've never told Paul, and both my parents are gone. So, yes, it's probably Sandy, my official Pod Bud!

D. What song did you last listen to?

L'Empress: I really don't know. I listened to the radio yesterday, I watched one of those shows about the Big Band Era ... I tend to sit back and enjoy the music, rather than remember specific numbers.

Me: It was a song on one of Gregory Alan Isakov's CDs that I have on my CD/radio upstairs next to my bed. It lulls me supposedly to sleep except that I hardly ever sleep... but his CD entitled "This Empty Northern Hemisphere" - this is the song..."Idaho":

(Click above to listen to this great song while you read, preferably with headphones!)

E. Do you have a crush on anybody?

L'Empress: Now? What possible purpose could it serve?

Me: I have had more crushes on more people than you could shake a stick at. But currently? It has to be the author, "Helen Forrester" who wrote "Twopence to Cross the Mersey" and also I have a huge crush on the City of Liverpool, Lancashire, England... because that is what she wrote about so eloquently.

F. Do you like The Beatles?

L'Empress: I like a lot of their music - not everything - but that's true of any artist.

Me: Very similar answer to that above. I do like quite a few of their songs - they were made/sung during my "coming of age" years... a lot of memories in those songs. But I did not follow "rock 'n roll" as such, I was more into folk music.

G. If you could choose one color to wear for a whole year, what color would you choose?

L'Empress: It tends to be blue, whether or not I do the choosing.

Me: Blue - the color of "bluejeans" which I could not live one day without - I'd have to go nekkid without my jeans.

H. Do you cook often?

L'Empress: Part of the reason for moving into this facility was that they provide a meal a day. I put together a breakfast and a lunch, go to the dining room and watch out for too much food.

Me: Yes, darn it. Every day I cook, mainly dinner for Paul and me but also lunch for myself. We never go out to eat. Well, we get take-out delivered occasionally (pizza, fried clams) but that doesn't count, right?

I. What was the last film you watched? Did you like it?

L'Empress: I saw "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" last week. (Always liked that one.) Now that I have Turner Classic Movies, I may look to see what is available. I watched Coal Miner's Daughter and enjoyed that.

Me: An old 1950 black and white film called "The Blue Lamp" which was great! "Jack Warner heads an all-star cast in this classic British crime movie that spawned the long-running series "Dixon of Dock Green" (which we have and have watched). When veteran bobby George Dixon is murdered while on duty, the Paddington Green police force start a city-wide manhunt to bring the criminal responsible to justice." Starring Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, and Robert Flemyng and others. We'd seen the Dixon of Dock Green series last year and when I saw this, the precursor to that series, I jumped on it... and it was wonderful. They don't make 'em like that anymore...

J. Can you sew?

L'Empress: Once upon a time - before I was married, back in the days when I had space to lay out a pattern... I also used to do fancy embroidery. Nowadays I can't even thread a needle; I see two threads and two eyes, and they don't match.

Me: Yes, I can sew. "Do" I sew much lately? No. Only things like pillow covers or curtains that take just straight seams... I think my clothing sewing days are long gone...for all the reasons L'Empress gave above!

K. What is your favorite fruit?

L'Empress: Almost any fresh fruit you offer me. I love berries, love watermelon. I really like olives and avocado. I am especially fond of the versatility of apples.

Me: Bananas. I like most fruit but bananas are decadent to me for some reason, almost sinfully so.

L. Are you health conscious?

L'Empress: Not in the sense of watch every spoonful, run a mile a day, etc. But I do consider what I eat, check my sugar, take my medication. No one knows my body better than I do, not even the doctor I see every year.

Me: Not very, not enough. Don't do as I do, do as I say... kinda thing.

M. What is your middle initial?

L'Empress: I was not given a middle name, so my middle initial is V, the first letter of my (unspellable, unpro-nounceable) maiden name.

Me: I have none. My mother didn't have a middle name and so her first born wasn't going to get one either, so there! My two siblings both got them... this started us on the road to a rather bumpy relationship I'm afraid.

N. Do you curse a lot?

L'Empress: I try not to. I don't always succeed.

Me: Yes. I try to curse at least once an hour if I remember to do it. Usually I don't need coaxing because whenever the dogs see someone going by on the street, they bark like mad and I curse at them, it just comes out! All the neighbors think I am totally mad...

O. When was the last time you had a beer?

L'Empress: Beer? Probably not since college. I preferred wine, but except for a sip of champagne at a wedding, I no longer indulge.

Me: I became alcoholic from my late teens into my early 30s. I realized it then and didn't want to go down the same road as my alcoholic mother, so I quit drinking all alcohol on my birthday in 1982. Period. And I did love beer...

P. Are you a pro sports fan?

L'Empress: Not any more. I have given up on professional baseball. College basketball is more my speed.

Me: Yes... as anyone who reads my blog regularly knows.

Q. Is there a certain food you often crave for no reason?

L'Empress: Crave? That would be ice cream, and I can give you lots of good reasons.

Me: Pizza. I can also crave potato chips and chocolate but don't get those that often. Basically it's pizza. Gotta have it every two or three weeks or I'd dissolve into nothingness.

R. What was the last book you purchased?

L'Empress: I haven't bought a book for myself for a couple of years; I used the bookmobile. So it must have been one I bought for a granddaughter. I gave Charlotte a book about The Rainbow Fish last April.

Me: I buy books like you probably eat breakfast - almost every day it seems. The last one I bought (and received) is called "Love Letters of Nathanial Hawthorne, Vol. 1 (of 2)" and my oh my, is it EVER good...

S. Where was your last vacation?

L'Empress: My vacations are usually a weekend with my son and his family. So, North Easton, Massachusetts, last April. I am hoping to get there again this month, Lord (and Amtrak) willin'.

Me: My last official vacation was in 2002 when we went, accompanied by friend Sandy, over to England for our 8th (and last) visit there. Twelve years ago. Wow... (of course I'm retired so you could say my whole life's a bloody vacation now!)

T. Do you share your fries?

L'Empress: No, I usually share someone else's. I don't order potatoes for myself. See Number L.

Me: Yes. I make homemade fries or frozen (McCain's or Ore-Ida) fries every couple of weeks to go with a fish dinner or something like a tuna roll... and so I do share them with hubby as they are for both of us. As for fries bought out at a public place, the answer is "No." Don't share those. Nope.

U. Did you ever play seven minutes in heaven?

L'Empress: What?

Me: Is this a trick question? Is it the name of a game only the writer forgot to capitalize it or quote it or something? I guess I could say "yes" I have played (for) seven minutes in heaven as I believe in Life After Life so I must have been there before/after this Life and I probably played while there.

V. Girls, when was the last time you went out without a bra? Guys, when was the last time you went shirtless in public?

L'Empress: Ten years ago, when I had daily radiation. I wore as little as possible, to save undressing and redressing time. My daughter says, we should never drive without a bra. If we hit a bump, we could put an eye out.

Me: I do not wear a bra period. I used to but don't. Why experience all that discomfort when you don't go anywhere, ever?

W. What's the longest you've gone "unplugged"?

L'Empress: About a week, from the time I packed up till I got my new connections in this apartment.

Me: Technically, from the time I was born until around the late 1990s sometime. Since computers, not long... maybe a day or two when things have broken down. It was not fun!

X. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how did it happen?

L'Empress: Although I am supposedly susceptible to broken bones, only one bone was ever broken, and that was surgically. I was born with a "deviated septum," a condition that closed off one nostril almost completely. I had corrective surgery when I was in high school. Isn't that more than you want to know?

Me: No. Amazing, huh?

Y. How do you like your eggs?

L'Empress: As long as they're cooked, I am happy to eat eggs.

Me: I like eggs a lot of ways but cooked is a must. In a quiche, scrambled, cooked in my little tiny crocks that I got after seeing them on TV, hard-boiled, egg-salad, and in a cheese omelet...yes!

Z. What was your last argument about and with whom?

L'Empress: Was it a real argument? I know my feelings on the subject, the other person - a relative of my son-in-law - is just as sure of hers. (She's wrong, of course.) I was explaining that children need to meet all kinds of people early - a reason for supporting public schools - and she was just as certain that there are no good reasons to tolerate anyone with a different skin color or an accent or a "towel head."

She told my daughter, "I like your mother, but she's too goddam liberal." I consider that a compliment. Ahem.

Me: Oh L'Empress, that is just awful, what that person said! I am with you... I am way too liberal for my own good, and married to a conservative! My last argument had to have been with Paul, it was the other night at dinner (which is the main time of the day we chat with each other) but I can't for the life of me remember the subject, it might have been about baseball... ah yes! It was!

So did you learn anything about me you didn't know?

This took me FOREVER to type out even after I copied the questions and answers from L'Empress' blog... getting it all set up and then going back and reading all her answers first and thinking up my own, but here you go. My pro sports are already on TV and my TV is in the OFF position! Yikes... Catch you all later!

Cheers,

Bex

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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (8) Share on Facebook		2014-09-07 11:47 AM On a lighter note... Some days I have "nowt" to say. Some days I have something to say that I think is very important to get out there... but it may not be very entertaining to you, my readers. And then other days my brain is spinning like a top with ideas, words, thoughts, phrases, truths, myths, excitement, and fancies... but there are so many of them tumbling all over one another up there in the gray matter, I have difficulty transcribing them out through my fingers, onto the keyboard, and onto this screen. Today is such a day as that latter one. So instead of imparting some great info that I had planned to impart to you here, I found this Meme at L'Empress' site today and thought I'd do it, as well. Some people like these Meme-y things. I do sometimes, sometimes I don't, so I'll just take the chance that some of you will, also. Here goes. Oh, and by-the-bye, I'm doing something a bit different here today. I'm going to keep L'Empress' answers to the Meme right under the actual question, which will be in italics so you can tell them apart from my own, which will follow in bold, straight script. A. What are your favorite smells? L'Empress: Ever since I learned that some smells can irritate people, I have tended to avoid them. I use unscented products when I can. Natural smells? A newly mown lawn. Onions slowly browning. There is memory in smells. Me: Eucalyptus, lavender, and a body lotion called "Amazing Grace" by Philosophy, that I smelled on a former coworker one day when I walked into the office and she was there (she didn't normally work IN our office) and I asked her what that heavenly smell was and she told me it must be her body cream... oh my! B. Can you go a whole day without caffeine? L'Empress: I've never shown the symptoms of caffeine deprivation, but I certainly am happier with coffee in the morning. Me: I CAN - but I won't if I have anything to say about it. Going one day without my one-and-only-cuppa-per-day would produce in my head an explosion of pain the likes of which I don't want to have ever again. I know because I've tried giving it up several times and that caffeine withdrawal headache is the worst! C. Who knows more about you than anyone else? L'Empress: I'm not sure that any one person does. I don't share the same information with everyone. My children know me well, but there are subjects I would never discuss with them. Me: Probably my best friend, Sandy. There are loads of things I've never told Paul, and both my parents are gone. So, yes, it's probably Sandy, my official Pod Bud! D. What song did you last listen to? L'Empress: I really don't know. I listened to the radio yesterday, I watched one of those shows about the Big Band Era ... I tend to sit back and enjoy the music, rather than remember specific numbers. Me: It was a song on one of Gregory Alan Isakov's CDs that I have on my CD/radio upstairs next to my bed. It lulls me supposedly to sleep except that I hardly ever sleep... but his CD entitled "This Empty Northern Hemisphere" - this is the song..."Idaho": (Click above to listen to this great song while you read, preferably with headphones!) E. Do you have a crush on anybody? L'Empress: Now? What possible purpose could it serve? Me: I have had more crushes on more people than you could shake a stick at. But currently? It has to be the author, "Helen Forrester" who wrote "Twopence to Cross the Mersey" and also I have a huge crush on the City of Liverpool, Lancashire, England... because that is what she wrote about so eloquently. F. Do you like The Beatles? L'Empress: I like a lot of their music - not everything - but that's true of any artist. Me: Very similar answer to that above. I do like quite a few of their songs - they were made/sung during my "coming of age" years... a lot of memories in those songs. But I did not follow "rock 'n roll" as such, I was more into folk music. G. If you could choose one color to wear for a whole year, what color would you choose? L'Empress: It tends to be blue, whether or not I do the choosing. Me: Blue - the color of "bluejeans" which I could not live one day without - I'd have to go nekkid without my jeans. H. Do you cook often? L'Empress: Part of the reason for moving into this facility was that they provide a meal a day. I put together a breakfast and a lunch, go to the dining room and watch out for too much food. Me: Yes, darn it. Every day I cook, mainly dinner for Paul and me but also lunch for myself. We never go out to eat. Well, we get take-out delivered occasionally (pizza, fried clams) but that doesn't count, right? I. What was the last film you watched? Did you like it? L'Empress: I saw "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" last week. (Always liked that one.) Now that I have Turner Classic Movies, I may look to see what is available. I watched Coal Miner's Daughter and enjoyed that. Me: An old 1950 black and white film called "The Blue Lamp" which was great! "Jack Warner heads an all-star cast in this classic British crime movie that spawned the long-running series "Dixon of Dock Green" (which we have and have watched). When veteran bobby George Dixon is murdered while on duty, the Paddington Green police force start a city-wide manhunt to bring the criminal responsible to justice." Starring Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, and Robert Flemyng and others. We'd seen the Dixon of Dock Green series last year and when I saw this, the precursor to that series, I jumped on it... and it was wonderful. They don't make 'em like that anymore... J. Can you sew? L'Empress: Once upon a time - before I was married, back in the days when I had space to lay out a pattern... I also used to do fancy embroidery. Nowadays I can't even thread a needle; I see two threads and two eyes, and they don't match. Me: Yes, I can sew. "Do" I sew much lately? No. Only things like pillow covers or curtains that take just straight seams... I think my clothing sewing days are long gone...for all the reasons L'Empress gave above! K. What is your favorite fruit? L'Empress: Almost any fresh fruit you offer me. I love berries, love watermelon. I really like olives and avocado. I am especially fond of the versatility of apples. Me: Bananas. I like most fruit but bananas are decadent to me for some reason, almost sinfully so. L. Are you health conscious? L'Empress: Not in the sense of watch every spoonful, run a mile a day, etc. But I do consider what I eat, check my sugar, take my medication. No one knows my body better than I do, not even the doctor I see every year. Me: Not very, not enough. Don't do as I do, do as I say... kinda thing. M. What is your middle initial? L'Empress: I was not given a middle name, so my middle initial is V, the first letter of my (unspellable, unpro-nounceable) maiden name. Me: I have none. My mother didn't have a middle name and so her first born wasn't going to get one either, so there! My two siblings both got them... this started us on the road to a rather bumpy relationship I'm afraid. N. Do you curse a lot? L'Empress: I try not to. I don't always succeed. Me: Yes. I try to curse at least once an hour if I remember to do it. Usually I don't need coaxing because whenever the dogs see someone going by on the street, they bark like mad and I curse at them, it just comes out! All the neighbors think I am totally mad... O. When was the last time you had a beer? L'Empress: Beer? Probably not since college. I preferred wine, but except for a sip of champagne at a wedding, I no longer indulge. Me: I became alcoholic from my late teens into my early 30s. I realized it then and didn't want to go down the same road as my alcoholic mother, so I quit drinking all alcohol on my birthday in 1982. Period. And I did love beer... P. Are you a pro sports fan? L'Empress: Not any more. I have given up on professional baseball. College basketball is more my speed. Me: Yes... as anyone who reads my blog regularly knows. Q. Is there a certain food you often crave for no reason? L'Empress: Crave? That would be ice cream, and I can give you lots of good reasons. Me: Pizza. I can also crave potato chips and chocolate but don't get those that often. Basically it's pizza. Gotta have it every two or three weeks or I'd dissolve into nothingness. R. What was the last book you purchased? L'Empress: I haven't bought a book for myself for a couple of years; I used the bookmobile. So it must have been one I bought for a granddaughter. I gave Charlotte a book about The Rainbow Fish last April. Me: I buy books like you probably eat breakfast - almost every day it seems. The last one I bought (and received) is called "Love Letters of Nathanial Hawthorne, Vol. 1 (of 2)" and my oh my, is it EVER good... S. Where was your last vacation? L'Empress: My vacations are usually a weekend with my son and his family. So, North Easton, Massachusetts, last April. I am hoping to get there again this month, Lord (and Amtrak) willin'. Me: My last official vacation was in 2002 when we went, accompanied by friend Sandy, over to England for our 8th (and last) visit there. Twelve years ago. Wow... (of course I'm retired so you could say my whole life's a bloody vacation now!) T. Do you share your fries? L'Empress: No, I usually share someone else's. I don't order potatoes for myself. See Number L. Me: Yes. I make homemade fries or frozen (McCain's or Ore-Ida) fries every couple of weeks to go with a fish dinner or something like a tuna roll... and so I do share them with hubby as they are for both of us. As for fries bought out at a public place, the answer is "No." Don't share those. Nope. U. Did you ever play seven minutes in heaven? L'Empress: What? Me: Is this a trick question? Is it the name of a game only the writer forgot to capitalize it or quote it or something? I guess I could say "yes" I have played (for) seven minutes in heaven as I believe in Life After Life so I must have been there before/after this Life and I probably played while there. V. Girls, when was the last time you went out without a bra? Guys, when was the last time you went shirtless in public? L'Empress: Ten years ago, when I had daily radiation. I wore as little as possible, to save undressing and redressing time. My daughter says, we should never drive without a bra. If we hit a bump, we could put an eye out. Me: I do not wear a bra period. I used to but don't. Why experience all that discomfort when you don't go anywhere, ever? W. What's the longest you've gone "unplugged"? L'Empress: About a week, from the time I packed up till I got my new connections in this apartment. Me: Technically, from the time I was born until around the late 1990s sometime. Since computers, not long... maybe a day or two when things have broken down. It was not fun! X. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how did it happen? L'Empress: Although I am supposedly susceptible to broken bones, only one bone was ever broken, and that was surgically. I was born with a "deviated septum," a condition that closed off one nostril almost completely. I had corrective surgery when I was in high school. Isn't that more than you want to know? Me: No. Amazing, huh? Y. How do you like your eggs? L'Empress: As long as they're cooked, I am happy to eat eggs. Me: I like eggs a lot of ways but cooked is a must. In a quiche, scrambled, cooked in my little tiny crocks that I got after seeing them on TV, hard-boiled, egg-salad, and in a cheese omelet...yes! Z. What was your last argument about and with whom? L'Empress: Was it a real argument? I know my feelings on the subject, the other person - a relative of my son-in-law - is just as sure of hers. (She's wrong, of course.) I was explaining that children need to meet all kinds of people early - a reason for supporting public schools - and she was just as certain that there are no good reasons to tolerate anyone with a different skin color or an accent or a "towel head." She told my daughter, "I like your mother, but she's too goddam liberal." I consider that a compliment. Ahem. Me: Oh L'Empress, that is just awful, what that person said! I am with you... I am way too liberal for my own good, and married to a conservative! My last argument had to have been with Paul, it was the other night at dinner (which is the main time of the day we chat with each other) but I can't for the life of me remember the subject, it might have been about baseball... ah yes! It was! So did you learn anything about me you didn't know? This took me FOREVER to type out even after I copied the questions and answers from L'Empress' blog... getting it all set up and then going back and reading all her answers first and thinking up my own, but here you go. My pro sports are already on TV and my TV is in the OFF position! Yikes... Catch you all later! Cheers, Bex ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pages from the American Notebooks, Nathaniel Hawthorne Passages from Hawthorne's English Notebooks ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 2003 - Present Archives at Diaryland 2007 - 2009 Archives at WordPress 2009 Archives at JournalScape 2010 Archives at JournalScape 2011 Archives at JournalScape 2012 Archives at JournalScape 2013 Archives at JournalScape 2014 Archives at JournalScape Read/Post Comments (8) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top