survey, from ragdoll

[verbminx]

1. What is the geekiest part of your music collection?
I don't know. ragdoll did send me a tape of the soundtrack of the Xena musical episode. & I have an amount of early vocal music usually reserved for choral directors, and you can tell it's intentional because it's mostly burned cds (from the library) with my handwriting on the labels....

2. What do you eat when you raid the fridge late at night?
What's there? Some delicacy. Cereal, ramen, cake, fruit, PB&J sandwich, carrots with ranch dressing. Sometimes I make hot cocoa (with milk) or drink a cup of Fruitein, which is an orange-banana protein shake.

3. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie?
There are a few. I bawled like a little bitch at the end of Brokedown Palace. But it's usually songs that make me cry more than movies. Anyway, I tend to try to avoid things that make me cry.

4. If you could have plastic surgery, what would you have done?
Resurfacing to get rid of some minor facial scars, or something to change the shape of either my jaw or my nose. Or possibly a breast reduction. D+ cups are not comfortable.

5. Do you have a completely irrational fear?
Tish. They're never irrational, and there are plenty of them.

6. What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure moment?
Picking at my cuticles, but since this is because of dry skin, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Apparently when I was younger and nervous I would pinch pieces of the fabric of my dress between my fingers and rub them against each other. (that is - skirt pinched between thumb and middle finger, rubbing the grain of the bit of fabric caught there against itself.) I have been told that I used to do this unconsciously all the time when singing. My coach eventually started having me hold props at recitals.

7. Are you a pyromaniac?
No. I like candles and incense but that's it, and I'm VERY careful with them.

8. Do you have too many love interests?
Nope.

9. Do you know anyone famous?
Sort of, but not closely. Senator Bill Nelson's daughter and I used to have the same voice coach & consecutive lessons - he was an astronaut before he was a politician, too. I know a few writers, enough to say hi if I ran into them, but not to call them at home.

10. Describe your bed:
A queen-size futon mattress (a nice one) on a platform of wood slats. About a foot off the ground. Heaped with pillows and high-thread-count 100% cotton linens.

11. Spontaneous or planned?
Mostly planned, or spontaneity within a planned framework.

12. Who should play you in a movie about your life?
It would depend on when the movie were made. A lot of people think I look like Reese Witherspoon, but I'm much taller. I look about as much like Drew Barrymore as I look like Reese. When I dyed my hair red (and I was thinner) I got told I looked like Julianne Moore. Black hair? Liv Tyler. But I don't know if annnnnny of these people could actually play me. In fact, a movie of my life wouldn't be that interesting.

13. Do you know how to play poker?
Sure thing. And I've won money and prizes at it, too. (strictly at stuff like "casino days" in department stores and the Project Graduation party casino that gave you monopoly money that you could use to bid on prizes in the "auction"... oh, and on a trip to DC in 8th grade, playing friends for money!)

14. What do you carry with you at all times?
Cellphone, lip goo, hairbrush & accessory or two, tablet/pen, keys, etc.

15. What do you miss most about being a kid?
An ability to enjoy leisure in a very specific, indescribable way. Also, the ability to run around on a playground and not get too tired, and go on swings and hang from monkey bars and that sort of thing.

16. Are you happy with your given name?
So unhappy with it that I changed it to the name I'd originally selected for a major character in my novel. I selected it because I liked it, so why not use it myself?

17. How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet for one year?
Hm. An awful awful lot.

18. What color is your bedroom?
White with taupe carpeting. My furniture is white or blonde wood (or veneer). My linens, rugs, curtains, etc, are mostly bright multicolors - sheets are currently Target's "Swell Stripe" set that you could get like two years back, and curtains are Urban Outfitters' "Birdy" panels. Poster above my bed is Hokusai's "The Great Wave" - it is a very large poster.

19. What was the last song you were listening to?
Something on Nellie McKay's cd, earlier.

20. Have you ever been in a play?
A bunch, when I was a teenager. Biggest roles were Guenevere in Camelot and Tuptim in The King and I. I also did a lot of chorus and "featured" (IE, a few solo lines at best) work, though, like in Oklahoma, Bye Bye Birdie, HMS Pinafore and others. When I was 14 I desperately wanted to do Dangerous Liaisons - as Cecile - but my mom wouldn't let me.

21. Have you ever been in love?
Yes.

22. Do you talk a lot?
It depends - on the company, the general mood/atmosphere, my personal mood, topics that come up, and a bunch of other things.

23. Do you like yourself and believe in yourself?
Sometimes. Again, it depends on a lot of factors.

24. Do transient, homeless, or starving people sometimes annoy you?
No. Well, now that I think of it, once, in a very uncrowded area in Tampa, a guy hit me and a group of my school friends up for money. He was a double amputee, and we dug out everything we could. Five minutes later we met him going back the other way and he asked us for money again. I was kind of aggravated because, dude, I'd given him all my snack and pocket money for the whole trip, and five minutes later he didn't even remember it. I was sixteen at the time.

25. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person?
Yes. But I can be really cranky.

26. Do you spend more time with your girlfriend/boyfriend or your friends?
I don't have that many friends around here. So definitely with my boyfriend. But I spend more time alone than I do with him.

27. What is your ideal marriage location?
Ideal ideal? or feasible ideal? I suppose I'd find A Really Cool Castle to get married in, or cathedral. Feasibly? Vegas. Although even there, I want to do the wedding at the Venetian hotel, and it looks like it'll be too expensive there, so we'll probably go for the Luxor.

28. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play?
Lute. Or be a proficient pianist. (I can read music and play the melody line, but I can't really "play the piano."

29. Favorite fabric?
This is not a joke? Um... merino? cashmere? cashmerino? silk? are we talking about FIBER or WEAVE? I like natural fibers, unless they're itchy. I really hate mohair.

30. Something you love and hate?
Money.

31. What kind of bedding do you use?
At the moment, nice cotton sheets and woven cotton blankies. I will soon switch over to my down comforter for the winter.

32. Do you tell your friends about your sex life?
It depends... on the friend, and on whether or not I "need" to. (IE, do I need to talk about it?)

33. What's the one language you want to learn?
Nihongo.

34. How do you eat an apple?
Whoever wrote this survey should have been more specific on numerous questions. I don't like refrigerated apples, and I usually don't cut up an apple first. If it HAS been refrigerated, I'll cut it up, and maybe spread peanut butter over it. But I'm most likely to just wash it off and bite into it.

35. What do you order at a bar?
Whiskey/Amaretto/Midori Sour. Appletini. Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider. Pink Lady. Alabama Slammer.

36. Have you ever pierced your body parts?
I have one hole in each ear, and a labret that I took out for my stupid, soul-destroying ex-job. The hole is still there, but since I need to find another job I haven't put the labret stud back in.

37. Do you have tattoos?
Nope. I am considering getting some of Ichabod's drawings from Sleepy Hollow done on my back, but that's only one of a few ideas.

39. Do you drive a stick?
Yikes, no. Don't know how.

40. What's one trait you hate in a person?
Only one? Um... gosh. Drama?

41. What kind of watch(es) do you have?
This metal 1928 watch. I don't wear it that much since my cellphone has a clock. It's really pretty. At some point I'd like to get a decent Cartier Tank knockoff.

42. Most frivolous purchase?
When? In my life? Plenty. When you get right down to it, most purchases are frivolous. I have a Miu Miu handbag, a couple of Custo Barcelona shirts (that don't fit me, but I had to have them, with the rationale that I might lose weight), and a couple of dresses, vintage and modern.

43. Do you consider yourself materialistic?
Not really, but I have sybaritic tendencies. I like comfort and luxury. I do NOT like super fakey things, unless they are somehow charming. Life is too short to be even remotely uncomfortable any more often than you have to... and I've been sickly and uncomfortable enough. So I'm not really a person who likes to "make do" for long stretches of time. Most of my clothes are classic or anti-fashion... I can't wear stuff that doesn't fit or is noticeably out of style (like a 2-yr-gone fad) because it makes me feel really bad about myself, ashamed and embarrassed, which I think is because I grew up so terribly poor. Some people who grew up similarly poor reacted in the opposite way, either not caring much about clothes at all or actively seeking out worn items and broken-in stuff. At the same time I'm not, uh, "into the bling" - I don't really like piles of jewelry and gems unless they have something very special about them (in which case I'm interested more in the design than the materials), I drive a lower-mid-priced sport sedan (which isn't fancy or sparkly). I like things that are of good quality, simple and exquisite, but they don't have to be the absolute best or most expensive available. This means that, say, I'm more likely to buy stuff from Kiehl's than Creme de la Mer, but I can make do with perfectly good drugstore products, as long as they work well and don't cause me any problems.

44. What do you cook the best?
Simple, savory dishes.

45. Favorite writing instrument?
Unigel Grip gel ink pen, or Sakura Gelly Roll gel ink pen.
Or Schaeffer calligraphy pen with a fine nib.
This also depends largely on what I'm writing.
If it's drawing rather than writing, for example, I prefer conte crayon.

46. Do you prefer to stand out or blend in?
Depends on the circumstances, but among friends I like to stand out.

47. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?
I could never in a million years be remotely convincing.

48. What's the one car you will never buy?
Aztec. Ugly! Especially the ones that are sunshine yellow.
When my stepfather and mother got married, he had a DeLorean.
But he sold it within a few weeks of the wedding.
I never got to ride in it.
But it had issues, so I have to say, I'd never pick up an old DeLorean.
Or, now that I think of it, another Cadillac. My parents had a few when I was a teenager, because my stepfather (who was a paraplegic) didn't want a van with a lift and needed a car that was big enough for him to get in and out of. They'd always buy these used Caddys that would last a few years each.

49. What kind of books do you like to read?
Nonfiction (historical, craft, reference, self-help), fantasy (esp historical or high), classics, acclaimed newer stuff, weird stuff (literary fiction with elements of the fantastic or surreal), graphic novels, etc.

50. If you won the lottery, what would you do?
Depends how much I won, but I'd buy a house, invest some money, finish school, ramp up T's selfpublishing, probably go on a NYC shopping spree to buy some really fancy house things, and travel (europe and japan).

51. Burial or cremation?
I'm not dead yet! In fact... I think I'm quite all right to go on with you, sir!

52. How many online journals do you read regularly?
A spotty, fluctuating number. I couldn't begin to estimate.

53. What's one thing you're a sore loser at?
Trivial Fucking Pursuit. If you beat me, you've been cheating.

54. If you don't like a person, how do you show it?
I generally don't talk to them. I try not to be around them. Because I'm human and apparently immature in this way, sometimes I complain about them behind their back. I think the person who tells person B that person A was talking about them behind their back is a much worse person than person A in most circumstances.

55. Do you cry in front of your friends?
I try not to, but sometimes things happen.

56. What kind of first impression do you think you give to people?
Large know-it-all, kind of cute.
I'm physically tallish and on the solid side. I'd require about 20 more lbs to be "fat," but I'm not skinny. I wear an XL in most clothes.
I am almost always either a wallflower or a loudmouth who monopolizes the conversation. Very little middle ground. If I'm in a social setting I'd almost always rather be talking, but I'm really bad at small talk and at striking up conversations. When I was thinner some ppl used to think I was snobby, but I don't think that comes up much any more. I just meet ppl under different circumstances than I used to.

57. What's one thing you like to do alone?
Read & write.

58. Are you a giver or a taker?
Yes.

59. When's the last time you cried?
Earlier tonight, when my mom railroaded me and T into a conversation about moving.

60. Favorite communication method?
AIM or F2F. I really don't like the phone that much, and email is too slow.

61. How many drinks before you're tipsy?
Depends on the drink, but it's around 2.

62. Do you think you're cute?
Sometimes.

63. Do you have problems changing clothes in front of friends?
Depends on the friends, but usually not.

64. First Name: Miranda

65. Were you named after anyone?
My given name was a panoply of family names. My grandmother, aunt, and various ancestral ladies had some remix thereof.

66. Do you wish on stars?
No. But pennies in wells, and wishbones from turkeys, and magic 8 ball answers, yes!

67. Which finger is your favorite?
I am at war with all my phalanges.

68. Who are you more like - your mother or your father?
My parents are both nuts, so I don't even want to THINK about this.

69. Do you like your handwriting?
Why yes, I do.

70. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Oven-roasted turkey breast. Pref Boar's Head brand.

71. Any bad habits?
Better to ask if I have any good ones. Um... I brush my teeth?

72. What's in your CD player right now?
Nellie McKay, as mentioned before, and some classical cd I can't recall right now (Bach Lute Concertos played on guitar?)

73. Do you believe in soul mates?
Not really.

74. Are you a daredevil?
No, I have anxiety disorder, I'm paranoid, I like safety.

75. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to?
Once in a while, but never where it would count - IE, where it could possibly get back to the person from whom it's a secret. Like, my mom will often swear me to absolute secrecy over something lame that she really just doesn't want a couple of her brothers to know. I have no problem telling someone who never has met and never will meet any of her brothers, and would know better anyway. So I'll tell katesterbp or someone, or mention it here in a friends-only post. REAL secrets, I keep.

76. Do looks matter?
Anyone who says they don't in some form is either lying or a fool.
A better question is, "Are good looks paramount?"
I'd reply, first of all, that "good looks" are relative - like I've never thought that Brad Pitt was hot - and second of all, that it depends on the situation and the person involved and all that.

77. Have you ever misused a word and it sounded absolutely stupid?
Oh, my god. I embarrass myself all the damn time.
Not usually for things related to vocabulary.
More like... I trip, I drop things, I lose stuff, I say dumb things on the internet... whether warranted or not, I go through phases of feeling lame. But I've gotten good at brushing myself off, laughing, whatever, otherwise I wouldn't be able to function at all. I'd just be paralyzed by every little mistake.

78. Do you think there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
Fuck off, hippie!

79. Are you trendy?
Slightly, but not much.

80. How do you release anger?
Cry. Rant on the phone. Rant on AIM. Rant in person. Write livejournal posts. Write lengthy documents in Word. Hold a grudge for years and years. Do meditations. Do housework!

81. Where are your second homes?
T's apartment & my dad's house in the Cleveland area & my aunt Jan's house in the Cleveland area.

82. Do you trust others easily?
Once again, depends. Generally yeah.

83. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Barbies, a couple of dolls, and a small brown bear by either Gund or Dakin named Barker (these were the ones that came prenamed with the names on the tags).

84. What class in school did you think was totally useless?
High school or college? In high school, let's see... "health" was up there. so was "ecology" (which was like Idiot Biology, and something I only took to put chem off for a year). In college, sociology, speech, class piano, ear training, and anything with a bad teacher.

85. Do you have a journal?
I have a whole pile of them.

86.Have you been in a mosh pit?
Yeah, Rage Against the Machine, Lollapalooza 93. I didn't WANT to be there - it opened up around me.

87. What do you look for in a boy/girl?
Entirely moot point since I'm taken.

88. What are your nicknames?
I don't really have any.

89. Would you ever bungee jump?
No, I'm afraid of heights! I have flying dreams that feel a little like bungee jumping, and I don't enjoy them.

90. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Sometimes. Most of my shoes don't tie though.

91. Do you think that you are strong?
In some ways. Terribly weak in others. I used to be stronger.

92. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
Ice cream.
Hahah... ok, Edy's Dreamery: Black Raspberry Avalanche, Ben & Jerry's Jerry's Jubilee or Mint Chocolate Cookie or just plain Cherry Garcia.

93. What's your favorite color?
Blue, but there are other colors I like - right now I really like apple green.

94. What is your least favorite food?
Fish.

95. How many wisdom teeth do you have?
I have a paucity, an absolute dearth.

96. Are you in love with anyone?
Tom!

97. How many people have a crush on you right now?
No clue. I try to be clueless about that kind of thing.

98. Who do you miss most right now?
A handful of friends.

99. What are you wearing?
Black cotton knit pants with a skull/crossbones print; grey cotton brushed knit shirt.

100. What are you listening to right now?
The computer's cooling fan.

101. What was the last thing you ate?
Um... two pieces of toast, a few hours ago?

102. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Burnt Sienna.
I kid. I have no idea what color I would be.
The old Crayola "flesh" tone that was removed because it wasn't PC was actually much darker and peachier than my skin.
Overall I'm pale gold.

103. How is the weather right now?
Nice, a little crisp.

104. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? T, Thursday night.

105. What do you wear to bed?
Usually pajamas, sometimes just a top/nightshirt/nightgown.

Comments

[hilarykay.livejournal.com]

awwww, that was cute. i know a lil bit more about you now.