Chainchainchaaaaain

Rules:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on the blog.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, as well as, creating your own eleven for the people you will tag.
3. Choose eleven people and link them in your blog.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tags back.
6. You legitimately have to tag.



1.) What content makes up most of your blog?
I almost exclusively blog about my life unless it is election season, then there are very opinionated and--shall we say--left-leaning posts.

2.) Why did you start blogging?
I just like to write and journaling is a pain because I sometimes don't have my journal on me and I end up forgetting what I want to say. I don't have anything to hide, really, and sometimes it might help others if they stumble across my posts. My highest viewed pages are about my physical and mental health issues, so it makes me feel good if even one of those hundreds of readers get something out of what I have to say.

3.) Where's the most comfortable place to think of blog posts?
I dunno. Stuff just comes to me randomly. I'll either note it on my phone or in a little Moleskine notebook if I don't have my laptop with me.

4.) When do you most often blog? Why?
I post a lot when I'm very relaxed and enjoying life or when my health problems are being, um, problems, lol.

5.) What word do you use the most?
While blogging? Probably "really." In real life? "What?" (Bad hearing and general lack of comprehension.)

6.) Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Working on Doctoral thesis. Probably in Women's Studies, American Studies, or Folklore.

7.) Favorite midnight snack?
A warm cup of cocoa made by my hubby before he goes to bed. With real milk. And real cocoa.

8.) What is one physical object you couldn't live without?
My iPhone. Or a hair tie/barrette/whatever to hold my hair back.

9.) Where is your favorite place to visit?
Definitely Paris. Three times and counting!!

10.) How many people truly know everything about you?
One person, other than me, knows everything about me that *I* know about me. And probably a bit more because of their own observations.

11.) What's one thing you would do if there were no such thing as consequences?
Somehow obtain enough money to give everyone I know what they need to be able to concentrate on the important parts of life. (Rob a bank? Embezzle? Blackmail? something along those lines...)

Hmmmm.... Eleven questions for those I tag, huh?

1. If you could take over--as editor or main author--any blog, which would it be?
2. Do you find yourself trying to portray yourself in a too-positive way on your own blog?
3. If you use tags, which has the most posts on your blog? If you don't: what do you think your most mentioned subject is?
4. If you could get any celebrity to promote your blog because they really love reading it, who would it be?
5. If you could only eat variations of only one recipe for the rest of your life--with no physical consequences--what would it be?
6. Do you consider yourself a good writer, a good storyteller, both or neither?
7. What would you name your band and what genre would it play?
8. With which living celebrity do you think you could be besties?
9. What is the VERY first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
10. What household chore/nuisance/pest/etc is your least favorite thing of not being a child whose every need is taken care of anymore?
11. What is the title of the book closest to you? No cheating!

I don't know 11 people to tag, do I?

1. Vicki
2. Ethan
3. Dina S.
4. Soupie
5. Abi
6. Angella
7. Brianna

Senses on a Suburban Spring Evening

What I see:

1. at least a dozen kinds of trees growing both fresh and new, and strong and tall among the over two dozen trees surrounding us
2. a little dog's forest worth of ferns
3. a few plucky birds out almost past their bedtimes
4. lightning bugs
5. lots of lightning bugs
6. around an acre of freshly shorn, fresh, green grass
7. hot pink roses
8. clematis
9. vines and more vines!!!
10. flowersflowersFLOWERS!!!!
11. plants soon-to-flower and those which will not but are beautiful in their own right because of their million shades of green
12. the swooping bats which I always refer to as "my bats"
13. a freshly filled hot tub
14. a riding mower
15. the tranquility of the cemetery behind my house
16. the neighbor's child's child's play-set
17. ...and a few pink, plastic flamingos

What I smell:
see numbers 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 above
and
a grill in some nearby yard cooling down from the busy day
warm concrete

What I hear:
see numbers 3 and 12 above
and
children playing in a yard (catching lightning bugs?)
a nearby screen door--the old-fashioned kind-- opening and closing regularly with a "whoooosh," then a "smack!"
some creatures scurrying in the brush and plants around the house
very light Sunday night traffic on "my" two busy streets

What I feel:
warm concrete beneath my dirty feet and under my ample ass
a mosquito and some gnats lighting repeatedly on my skin

What I know:
my oldest baby boy graduated from high school today
I have the whole summer ahead of me with my boys, my dogs, my friends, and--for a week--the ocean
my boys are safe and having fun with friends tonight
I'm about to eat a tub of mashed potatoes and gravy and a few biscuits with honey for a late supper

What I taste:
joy