Memeing - or Plays Well With Others

Wow!

The unexpected happened to me the other day - I got tagged for a meme! Despite my curmudgeonly postings about not really liking memes and never really jumping on the meme bandwagon, yada-yada....Karyn over at Noeys Mommy Knits was not scared off and nicely asked me to play along. Well I guess she saw right through Miss Cranky Meme Pants! Us grouchy folks are really just the awkward kids on the blog playground, sort of toe scuffing our way along the fence line, trying not to be noticed but hoping someone will notice us anyways. :) I have been reading Karyn's blog pretty much ever since I discovered blogs existed and I've been reading everyone else's responses to the meme with interest. I like getting to know other bloggers but it never occurs to me that anyone might want to know more about me.

So this was one time when I was really glad this whole blogging thing takes place in the virtual world because when I saw I got tagged I immediately went mentally goofy, running circles in my brain, feeling flattered, (it's like getting invited to a bloggy playdate), feeling socially awkward (what do I do??), and finally getting a hold of my silly self and just doing the meme. But I still reserve the right to be a curmudgeon. Mainly because I really really like the word curmudgeon.

Seven Things To Do Before I Die:

1. Go on a country house and castle tour of England

2. Learn a language that is very different from English - like Russian or Norwegian

3. Write many books both fiction and non-fiction (especially the story of our family which I would like to leave as a legacy)

4. Live in London

5. Master the crafts I haven't gotten to yet!

6. See my great-grandchildren

7. Do something which will help humanity in general

Seven Things I Cannot Do:

1. Play a musical instrument :(

2. Smoke cigarettes or drink coffee

3. Lie

4. Stop worrying!!!! (This should probably be number 1)

5. Tolerate a hypocrite, liar, racist, child abuser etc.

6. Keep my mouth shut (especially when I am around # 5) :)

7. Figure out why people/the world is not fair and just

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Man:

1. His big doe eyes

2. How much he cares about our family

3. He tries hard to do things for me and take care of me. :)

4. He has the same politics as I do

5. He doesn't tell me to shut up when I talk to the players, coaches, fans etc. the entire time we watch baseball on tv

6. I'm a big pest and he puts up with it :)

7. We are very different and yet he still tries to understand me.

Seven Books I Love:

1. Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. The Original Oz books by L. Frank Baum - for their artwork by John R. Neill and the characters (I also like the Ruth Plumly Thompson sequels too)

4. The Brontes - biography by Juliet Barker

5. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

6. The Fate of the Romanovs by King and Wilson

7. Duncton Wood by William Horwood

As a child I loved the Narnia series, Ruth Chew's witch books, Andre Norton's magic books, Marguerite Henry's horse books, Zilpha Keatly Snyder's Changeling and Below the Root series, - my wish for my children is that they will find books which lead them to worlds and stories as wonderful as these!

As a teenager I loved Piers Anthony and Nancy Springer.

Authors whom I also love but couldn't pick just one book: Edith Wharton, Anthony Trollope, Elizabeth Gaskell, Sheri Holman, Donna Tartt and I will read literally anything on British History (but I especially love biographies).

Seven Things I Say:

1. Yeesh! (Used when things are crazy or sketchy)

2. Describe things as a 'big ol" this or that

3. Call my kids something prefixed by Sugar

4. Jimminy Christmas!

5. I love you!

6. Well Shaaaah!

7. Turn just about anything into a pun or play on words

Seven Movies I Have Loved:

1. Heavenly Creatures

2. Pride and Prejudice (BBC TV Version)

3. The Up Series - absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking

4. Paper Moon

5. Monty Python's The Holy Grail

6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

7. Dr. Zhivago - both versions

Lady Jane, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones, Wives and Daughters, Gosford Park, The Way We Live Now, Memento, Amadeus, Monster, Saving Private Ryan, Notting Hill, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...

I guess that's more than seven.... :)