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Scarlet’s Meme


I was tagged by Unbearable Banishment who was tagged by Leah, who was tagged by Scarlet. The mission – to answer the 10 questions written by UB. In turn, I am to write 10 questions of my own and tag six people. As my per usual, I consider tagging optional and invite those who care to do so to play along in the comment box here or take it to their home turf and tag back.

1. George Bush. Lindsay Lohan. Dick Cheney. You have to sleep with one, marry one and kill one.

Ugh, this is just an awful question. I simply can’t kill anyone for being un-evolved. And it’s very un-yoga. I wouldn’t want to sleep with any of them but I have Rob, so there isn’t a need for me to even ponder the idea. And, of course, Rob relieves me of the whole “marrying anyone” thing.

Seriously, Bush is probably just banal evil whereas Cheney is pure evil by choice and poor Lindsay was raised  Beverly Hillbilly style and never stood a chance.

2. Would you prefer a comfortable relationship that was passionless or a torrid affair that’s riddled with angst and uncertainty?

I am certain that neither of those things is even possible for me at this point in my life though I did the latter as a younger, much dumber, woman. Minus the “torrid” because .. well … I just didn’t know any better or know myself well enough to insist on what I deserved.

3. What is your drink of choice?

Alcoholic? Because I can’t drink these days between sulphites and my pesky tendency to migraines. When just a few sips makes you ill, really, what’s the point? Not that there was a point back in the day, but it was easier when the nasty side-effects were a night’s sleep away.

I drink tea. I prefer it hot and sweetened. Chai if it’s available but I’ll make do with whatever is on hand.


4. Would you rather work an interesting job that was low-paying and be under constant financial duress, or have a comfortable lifestyle with a job that wasn’t very satisfying (but not a nightmare)?

I think I’ve done both – and with the same job – but at different points in my career. When I first started teaching, I made $18, 200 a year. It was an awesome job back in the days before standardized testing, NCLB and Race to the Top. I had autonomy and could make it as interesting and fun as I pleased. The last five years of my teaching career I was finally making money enough to be comfortable – not rich – but I didn’t worry much (dying husband and medical crap aside). But gawd, it was boring. Hemmed in by all sorts of idiotic rules and oversight. I tried to make it as fun as I could, but the wiggle room was less and less every year.

Money is awesome. There’s no substitute for the ease and freedom associated with having money in the bank and bills that are paid, but a boring job really has to be weighed heavily before you commit to that route.


5. You are boarding a plane tomorrow morning. Where are you going?

In no scenario I can think of  – short of someone dying or being near death – would I be getting on a plane. Have you forgotten who I am? I loathe air travel. Even for fun. Even if someone else was footing the bill.

But, if I could take off tomorrow for somewhere?

I have no friggin’ idea. Really. None. I don’t really think much about traveling too far away. Ask Rob. He’ll say,

“Where do you want to go for summer holiday?”

“Oh,” I’ll reply, “I don’t know. Where do you want to go?”

Travel is good. Staying home is a tiny bit better.


6. What was the last piece of music you purchased?

People still buy music? I get music from Rob and he … um … is Canadian. ‘Nuff said. But I did get an iTunes card last year and downloaded a bunch of pop rock and bad country stuff. There was Nickelback and Ludacris in the mix – I think – and quit judging me because I don’t care what the “hip” factor is on my music. That’s just too high school and faux cool to the point of actively being a poser.


7. If a book isn’t working for you, do you hang on hoping for redemption or bail out?

I ‘m done. No question. Life is full of great writing and I don’t waste my time or limited brain capacity on less than ideal prose.


8. Is it easy for you to admit when you’re wrong? Let’s be honest here.

Out loud? Kidding. I will eventually. First, I have to realize that I’m wrong. That’s what takes time.


9. Do you think fame is a useful tool or more trouble than it’s worth? If it came knocking on your door, would you open it?

Fame is useful but using it in a useful manner can be troublesome. If if came knocking, I’d make use of it.

10. Fill in the blank. I wish my parents had not __________.

I’m not going to second guess them. Mostly because I can only view their lives – that part which I was around for – from the perspective of a child and that is not very sharp hindsight, imo.

My questions now:

1. If your life was a romantic comedy, where would it be set?

2. Standing up or lying down? Context – subjective.

3. Which Star Trek era would you live in – provided that Star Trek was real and time travel was real and … you know … it was a geeky thing to contemplate even in the abstraction of a meme? Prequel? Original? or Next Generation?

4. Shower or bath?

5. Current event that most affects your actual life?

6. Celebrity crush? (celebrity being relative)

7. Do you read the novel or wait for the film version?

8. Bottled water or tap?

9. How prepared are you for the next Armageddon (keeping in mind that “the end of the world” is also relative and subjective in our modern times)?

10. If you could claim citizenship anywhere on the planet, where would it be and why?

Smoke Means Fire


Somewhere anyway. Not here. But about 30 minutes north of us a forest/brush fire went rogue yesterday and the air is hazy and distinctly firepitty in our little hamlet today.

On the possibly the warmest day of the month, our windows are as sealed as they can be and we have no central air to off-set the stuffy or the warm.

My lungs have been aching all weekend between the smoke and the neighborhood grass mowing frenzy. I should be used to it, but this asthma business actually gets harder to wrap my zen around as time goes on.

Between the wasps, bees, pollens, dust and now smoke, I am holed up in the nicest of weather in an effort to not get sick and die. Well, just not get sick. I probably won’t die though a sting could be an issue if my epi-pen isn’t handy. They are so cumbersome and not the tiniest bit attractive.

In case you’ve been missing me, I was here, here and here last week, but mostly I have been scaling back again. I mentioned on my FB status that I wanted to pull away near completely from the Net – again – but I was prevailed upon to rethink that by a few wiser heads than my own. I am going to try to take a bit of a break for the summer though – finish a few big projects and plot out my employment prospects for the fall.

Today, it’s off to the consumer hell of Costco and preparing for soccer – I’m snack mom tonight though Rob says that if it’s too smoky, I’ll have to stay home. Can’t risk a full blown asthma attack days before a training weekend.

Happy Monday, people!!

All Over the Place


That 15 minutes of fame laps the stadium of one’s life rather quickly on the odd occasions it shows its face at all.

From thousands to hundreds to just my regulars in a matter of a few days.

Ah, well. As the sutras say, best not attach one’s self.

While I wasn’t gracing WordPress’s Freshly Pressed page, I was catting about my other haunts. The mom’s blog is rocking with new writers and I strive to fit in. School news was all about the sex and orientation.

I am immersed in yoga this weekend. Training.

Yesterday we talked about prenatal students. Enlightening and amusing.

First, I was right about the whole “bodies cannot come back after childbirth”. Like most things in life, people who make claims to something so obviously untrue have agendas ranging from misleading to delusional.

Second, if more mothers honestly spoke about motherhood, fewer women would rush into it.

A little less than half the class have been pregnant and given birth. Most of the students are Edie’s age, mid-ish to late twenties. While the moms shared the kind of things that still don’t come up on even the most tmi parts of the webosphere, all the child-free ladies grimaced and choked back a little bile.

I should not be amused by this because it is not yoga and because I don’t approve of those pregnancy in the trenches stories that some moms gleefully get off on telling, normally around newly PG women, but never PG’s will do in a pinch. The purpose of talking about the experience should be to enlighten not deliberately unnerve.

I always oblige those who query about the realities of pregnancy and birth, but only because I think a woman should go into it armed with factual info – just as preteens should be similarly armed as they bravely – and with foolish haste – step onto the hormone gridiron.

Back on Monday with a follow-up to Jillian Michaels (someone scraped my post and put it on a message board).

Namaste, y’all.