Category: Golightly Memes

As seen around Blogland:

1. FIRST NAME? Beverly

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My Auntie

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?  When Neal and I fought after I got home from Taos.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? When I’m writing letters and taking care with it, yes.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? As a vegetarian, I guess lunch cheese?  Provolone

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?  Yeah.  I’m pretty fun to be around, and I have a big heart.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I stop and start one all the time.  But I have this blog and the Treadmill Journal.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?  Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Only if it were that or someone I love (really, really love) getting hurt.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? McCains Oatmeal with a dash of milk, honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?  No

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically?  Not as much as I’d like.  Emotionally?  Well, there’s an occasional fragile day, but usually, yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?  I can’t really eat ice cream, but I heart mango sorbet.

14. SHOE SIZE? 7

15. RED OR PINK? Pink. Before my gram passed away, I wouldn’t have touched pink, but it was her favorite color, and I started wearing it as a way to remember her.  Now I love it.  The Mrs. Beeton’s I’m knitting right now are pink and red, which I think is a cool combo.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?  I can be impatient.  I can be sarcastic.  I hold in my anger until it’s really nasty when it comes out.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? MB and Dana for living so far away; my grandpa for wanting him to know what I’ve done with myself; my grandma A. for wanting to hear more stories from her girlhood; gram just because she’s my gram.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?  Yes, they’d best do so, otherwise bad luck will come their way.  If they send it to seven people (including me) within the hour, they won’t believe their good luck.  Really.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue sweats, blue long-sleeved shirt, no shoes.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Half of a really nasty low-fat muffin and a fakacino (my little pretend coffee drink).

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Lime and Violet episode 14.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?  Black

23. FAVORITE SMELL?  Sheets just off the line.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?  My sister MB.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their smile

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from?  Yup.

27. FAVORITE DRINK?  Cranberry cocktail or grapefruit soda.

28. FAVORITE SPORT?  UCONN basketball, baby.  Less than a month to go.  We’ve got a young team this year, so it should be interesting.

29. EYE COLOR? Brown

30. HAT SIZE? Not sure, but I think Babs says that your glove, shoe, and hat size are the same.  Does that make sense?  She’s not often wrong about things, so if it’s not wrong, it must be me.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?  No, although in the late 1980s I had green contacts.  I loved the way they looked, but they hurt my eyes.  Strictly glasses ever since.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Whoopie pie and Saag Paneer (not together, silly!)

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?  Happy endings

35. SUMMER OR WINTER?  Winter

36. HUGS OR KISSES?  Well, from anyone but Neal, hugs.  From him, kisses.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Strawberries picked and cleaned by my dad.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Um?

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Um, not sure?

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Twisted Sisters for dyeing and spinning content, The Guiness Book of Me for nonfiction, no fiction right now, although I’m tempted to read Jane Eyre again.

41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Don’t use one.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV?  Neal had the Cards on, although I can’t say I watched them.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Alexis’s laughter, the ocean or the Hudson lapping the shore, the rustle of the trees when the wind goes through them, New York City street sounds.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles, but it’s a tough call.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Australia

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I’m really good at encouraging people to take risks, but I’m not sure that qualifies as a special talent. 

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?  Hartford,Ct

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Found it on Kelly’s blog most recently.

Noelle tagged me to write about five things that feminism has done for me.  I spent the weekend thinking about this question.  As a young teen I was outspoken about my right to equality, to equal pay, to being just the same as a man.  My first boyfriend made a comment to me that was along the lines of "if you are equal, why do you have to have legislation to prove it?"  Well, I know I don’t need to get into the answer to that question, but it did make me think again about living my equality rather than shouting about it.

I was raised in a traditional (at least for the time) family: my dad worked full time, my mom had a part-time job, but not until after I (her fifth and last child) was in school.  I have two brothers and two sisters, and dinner was on the table at the same time every night, and the entire family was expected to be there.  Despite some occassional financial difficulties, and despite some familial dysfunction, I had a fantastic childhood.  One reason is that my parents never said I couldn’t do something because I was a girl.  Whatever I set my mind to, my parents believed I could at least make a good effort to achieve it.  So I wasn’t raised with high gender expectations. 

When I was first married, my husband used to insist on doing certain chores.  I didn’t see why he had to take the garbage out or I had to mop floors.  He would say "because I’m the boy and you’re the girl, and that’s the way we do things."  Indeed, our pet names for each other (which our families and friends started to use for us) were "the boy" and "the girl."  Don’t get me wrong; he wasn’t saying I HAD to mop floors, just that what I’d consider traditionally-male chores were his to do.  Over the 14 years of our marriage, things shifted.  He is a far better cook, deriving more pleasure from the process than I do on most days, so he cooked.  I’m a better money manager, so I handled budgets and bills.  In other words, we discovered our strengths and put them to work for our little family.

So.  I guess the first thing that feminism has done for me is that it enabled me to have an upbringing that gave me an open mind about my role as a woman in this world.

As a woman who values my education more than just about any physical possession, I value my ability to attend college and university for whatever subject strikes my fancy.

I am so grateful that my excruciating fear of pregnancy and childbirth does not have to be an issue for me. 

I am also grateful that I can own property, all under my own name.  I don’t need to have a father or husband or brother or uncle or man of any relationship own my home for me.

Finally, feminism has, in a way I don’t quite understand, become inherent in the crafts that I love.  Rather than being "quaint," when I pick up my sticks, hook, spindle, or needle, I do so with pride for my feminity, for my connection to the women in my family who also plied a tool to create something with love, usually while balancing complicated lives. 

Tag.  If you’re reading and want to post your own thoughts, you’re It.

Neal finished my bookshelf this weekend, so Noelle’s timing is perfect–the boxes of books that have been stacked in the dining room are finally being shelved.  I was tempted to look for a particular blue book (not that I had one in mind, just wanted to pick something wonderful), but I grabbed the first one on the second shelf (poetry is on the first shelf, no blue books there):  Brenda Ueland’s If you Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit.

Closest Blue Book Meme
1. Grab the nearest book with a blue cover.
2. Open the book to page 86.
3. Find the first full paragraph.
4. Post the text in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the coolest book you can find, just the closest blue book.

"Beneath the harsher sound of the wind, I heard a low moaning–that was from the row of willows below the garden.  And that was what I liked best.  I lay back to listen with closed eyes, and felt myself slipping away–deliciously away.  The windows rattled but I liked that too.  It was all familiar, assuring-and safe.  Never was there so satisfying a time or place for the pleasure of sleep–cradeld by the wind, and know that at the end of the soothing darkness I should awaken to the sight of friendly faces, and the sound of kindly, well-known voices."  (by Elsa Krauch)

Ueland is quoting this passage to illustrate how she (Ueland) would not tell her students to write a certain way…really she’s writing about encouraging students to find their own voice.  If you’re an artist or a craftsperson, you might find this book a good read.

I’m going to catch up on cleaning chores today, and I hope to get the rest of the books up.  Tomorrow I head to New York to visit with my chums there, and on Thursday I’ll have knitting time with the Scissorinas.  By the way, if you spin, be sure to check out FiberFly–great colors…I purchased Big Rock Candy Mountain (Woody’s voice came into my head when I saw that, and I couldn’t resist) and A Grape Farm on a Summer’s Day.  Lusty Lady is tempting me now, but I have to remember I’m a jobless graduate student.  Anyone want to hire me?  Will work for wool!

Before he left for work this morning, Neal told me about the morning walk’s excitement:  Maddie went zipping into the woods (not unusual for her…this spring she’s learned that squirrels are fun to chase), and then Tilly went zooming after her.  Tilly’s the smart one, so we don’t worry quite as much about her.  Maddie just loses her head, though.  Neal called and called, then realized they were chasing a BEAR!  He called again after he heard a big growl, and the girls came running.  Thanks to JessaLu, I know what to do if I come across a bear, and now it sounds like I might one evening.

Until I get some pictures taken to show you what I got in the mail yesterday, here’s a meme from Cara via Gromit Knits

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

And here’s another seen at Strange Little Mama’s and Cari’s blogs.  If you’re reading, you’re tagged.

Take a look around you. Apart from your computer and its peripherals, and your computer desk/table/milk crate and chair, what, in order of their physical closeness, are the five things nearest to you right now?

1.  Baby bib I’m knitting for next Thursday’s baby shower.

2.  Madison bag with Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono in progress.

3.  Mason Dixon Knitting.

4.  Cup of coffee.

5.  Large plant.

I’m too lazy to put the batteries in the camera, but I promise to do so in the next few days.  Trek had a contest that I won, and yesterday there was a fabu sock bag (she’ll swap one for yarn…go check them out!) with two cakes of sock yarn in them.  I love soft, squishy packages in my mail box!

The Dye-O-Rama Mamas came up with a great meme idea, so here’s mine:

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?  That depends on the project.  For sock yarn I like multicolored a lot, even monochromatic multicolored is pretty cool.

If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn?  No preference.  I like variegated more than anything, I’d say, but I’m just tickled to have something dyed for me.

Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?  Sure.  I’m open to anything, though less so with acrylic than the others.

Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it? Johnny Cash Ain’t Afraid of Pink.

What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?  I wanted to learn more about dyeing so that I could make my projects truly custom for the person receiving them (there you go…I don’t keep much of what I make).  Also, I bought three pounds of roving over the winter that I plan to dye this summer with my CT girls.  I want to know what I’m doing!

Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?  Yup, under the guidance of Scout.

If so, what’s your favorite dye and method? Um, Scout, what did we use?  We painted and microwaved the yarn.  I like the idea of painting it for even more control.

Do you spin? Yes.  I bought a wheel in February that I have yet to use, but the semester is about done!

Have you knit socks before? Yes.  When I first started knitting in the last millenium, then again this January.  Remember that unfinished Jaywalker?

Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?  For other patterns, too.  I’m making a Shadow Shawl using Koigu.

What are some of your favorite yarns? Koigu, Manos, Cascade 220.

What yarn do you totally covet? The one my pal is dyeing for me 😉

Favorite patterns? Weekend Knitting and Last Minute Knitted Gifts both have wonderful patterns.  I love Kate Gilbert’s designs.  LOVE. Them.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? The cape in Cat Bordhi’s second mobius book.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Addi circulars

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Right now I’d be a hand painted sock yarn.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?  Anything ginger rocks my world.

What’s your favorite animal? Hard to pick one.  Dogs, horses, giraffes, and beavers.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?  My pets live with Neal in CT, but Maddie is my daft border collie (maybe mixed with beagle).  She’s a little over two years old.  I adopted her right after I moved to NM.  Tilly is Neal’s dog, but I consider her mine, too.  She’s just over three and is a Aussie cattle dog and German Shepard mix.  She’s super smart and beautiful.

If you were a color what color would you be?  Black.

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s).  Right now my favorite is a thin, white cotton tunic from Ann Taylor.  It’s tres elegant over my bathing suit or with wide-legged slacks, or a tank top and jeans. 

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?  Ferns.  Any body of water, but especially streams running through woods, the Hudson River, and the ocean.

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.  “Never complain, never explain” –Coco Chanel

Do you have a wishlist? Yup, on Amazon.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?  I had my last fiction workshop of my MFA career tonight.  My last one.  I’m astonished by that and sad, too.  This party of the dream had to end sometime, right?

I saw this over at Soozs’s–if you’re reading, consider yourself tagged.  Give us a list of your childhood favorites:

Favorite special treat food – Hot tea with milk and sugar and crumbled up milk crackers (another regional food, I discovered over the winter.  My mom shipped me two boxes of milk crackers as I couldn’t find them in New Mexico at all!).

Favorite real food – Spinach.  Corned beef hash a la my gramp’s recipe.

Favorite thing to wear – In middle school I had this peasant-style blouse and skirt that I adored. 

Favorite place to go – The library.  Libraries in the neighboring towns were an extra-special treat!

Favorite person – My father.  I’m a daddy’s girl through and through. 

Favorite event/occasion – My birthday!

Favorite pet – Norman.  I loved him so much I wanted to marry him.  He died when I was 12, and it was as though the world had ended.  He was the best cat evah!

Favorite thing to do – I loved to read.  I also liked to take my father’s White Owl cigar boxes, have him cut a hole in either side and create a mini movie theater.  I would tape strips of paper together to make the film, then draw on the movies.  Geez, thinking about it makes me want to make one right now!

Favorite TV show – As a little girl I was a fan of Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room.  I liked Star Trek (yes, I had a secret crush…try to guess on which character!) and later Charlie’s Angels.

Favorite book – No Flying in the House.  Little House on the Prairie.  Wrinkle in Time.