I am a pick-up truck. I am America. (Memes and memes!)

[apple_pathways]

The book meme is off to a fantastic start! Thank you so much to everyone who's jumped into the fray! If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, do head on over: there's some great recs posted. (I found a new cookbook! Woo hoo!) Leave a request, or a rec: find a good book! (And if you're so inclined, spread the love! ♥ Here's the banner code if you're willing to help me pimp.)

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15 days meme

(snagged from gahdzuks)

Day 01: Introduce yourself. List your likes and dislikes.
-Call me Amy.
-Or apple_pathways. Or amo_amare. Or neverthesamegirl.
-I'm 29. I have a degree in social work, but I currently work as a math tutor. I'm looking for a full-time job, and trying to get my shit together to go to grad school.
-I curse a lot more in real life than I do on this journal: the 'backspace' key is a beautiful thing.
-I'm from the suburbs of Detroit, and ridiculously protective of that city and my state in general.
-I garden. I cook. I write: fanfic, short stories, the occasional poem--oh, and lots and lots of spreadsheets. I knit. I crochet. I'm obsessed with making things myself: laundry detergent, pie crust, fertilizer, jam, pickles, socks, cosmetics--you name it. In a conversation with a stranger last week, I realize this has colored my worldview somewhat: I tend to assume that everyone wants to keep bees and make their own candles. This isn't strictly true, it seems.
-I'm politically and socially liberal.
-My brother is a Marine, and I'm very proud of him, but I can't help but snigger every time I hear that goddamn "Proud to Be An American" song. (Being American is not an accomplishment to be proud of: in my case, it was an accident of birth. I am grateful to be an American.)
-My dad is a Libertarian and a retired telephone repairman. He is slightly insane, and I love him. My mom has no discernible political leanings and is a retired secretary. She is completely insane, and I love her, too.

I like: plants, dirt, books, cheese, fruit and veg, kids telling jokes, music of infinite varieties, nail polish, trivia, nice-smelling hand lotion, the BBC, clean sheets, fancy ice cream, fresh-baked bread, good conversations, offbeat humor, and the smell of cigarette smoke. (Also more things. But this is getting self-indulgent.)

I dislike: raw onions, loud noises, a slow internet connection, small-mindedness, being told I'm wrong, creepy eye contact, rude children, meanness, strong perfumes, baked potatoes, too much chocolate in things, talk shows, pop psychologists, women's magazines, hamsters, and sleet. (Also more things. See above.)

If there's ever anything else you want to know, just ask! More than anything, I like a conversation.

Day 02: Make a bulleted list of everything that happened in your day.
Day 03: Share your favorite quote/song lyric.
Day 04: Smile! We want to see your teeth today. Post a self-portrait.
Day 05: Share your favorite recipe.
Day 06: List 5 countries you'd like to visit.
Day 07: Provide pictures of 5 celebrity crushes.
Day 08: Create a bucket list, whether or not your aspirations are rational.
Day 09: Describe your food consumption today.
Day 10: Share some of your current favorite tunes.
Day 11: List some of your favorite tumblrs.
Day 12: Set a goal.
Day 13: Provide the HEX code(s) of your favorite color(s).
Day 14: Post a Youtube video that makes you laugh/inspires you.
Day 15: Make a voicepost in another language besides your native one.

(Gonna have to practice for Day 15! Anyone else on the ol' flist fluent in Spanish besides alt_universe_me?)

ETA: Note to self: locate glasses before removing contacts. That's ten minutes of my life I'm not getting back...

Comments

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

Points:

* I wish there was a backspace key in real life. When I drop my laptop at school I really can't control the instinct to hiss Fuck!, impressionable young minds or no. Maybe the "female parental unit was onto something when she nagged me about "acquiring the habit of profa"nity."

* And you are going to learn CSS, don't forget! Your list of DIY accomplishments continues to impress. I can't be relied upon to park a car, cook a meal, or hang a poster without exhausting my feeble brain.

* As far as I can tell, proud has colloquially long since has a slightly broader meaning in the South--not quite identical to "grateful" but much it's a much more humble, low-key emotion than personal pride. It is a problem now that the music has gone mainstream since the shade of meaning is lost; by using the same word in a different way we're going to actually change the way we understand phrases like "my country makes me proud" (even in texts that meant them in the old way--and you can see how that could compound a jingoism problem). And I even suspect that the performers of that song themselves are already using it in the new sense (though, hell, I'm only guessing). Still, there is a tradition of pride meaning "something that makes you lift your head because you've got to live up to it and something that makes you happy because it's all communal and shared and shit" rather than "I am, personally, a BAMF [because I was born in America/my friend won some big thing/our town happens to be haunted by an awesome ghost, etc.]."

* Who does like a slow internet connection? ;)

* What's a 'bucket list', please?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

You know, I just got a book on CSS out of the library today! My control freak need to DO EVERYTHING MYSELF continues to rule my life!

You know, you're right: I'm familiar with that definition of 'pride', and I can see how they're using it that way in the song. I still hate that damn song. :P (They played it at my brother's boot camp graduation, and I hadn't heard it in years and just wasn't ready for it. I got the giggles *so bad*, I thought my mother wasn't going to speak to me for DAYS! Turns out: my brother and a lot of his friends were trying their hardest not to laugh out on the field in formation!)

(I'm not very patriotic. This is considered a Major Failing in my family!)

I just found out what a 'bucket list' is! (Apparently it's named for a film?)

Anyway: a Bucket List is a list of things you want to do/accomplish before you 'kick the bucket', i.e. a list of things you want to do before you die. (Which I find silly. I want to do EVERYTHING, God damn it! Narrowing it down to a list seems depressing...)

(Oh, except I don't want to jump out of a plane. There is not even a tiny shred of me that thinks that would be fun.)

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

Hm... I would love to jump out of a plane, if I could get up the nerve and not fear leaving my children behind without a mother. Many of my dreams that I can control involve me in a plane and jumping out of it. Of course, I've always wanted to fly like Daedalus too (not like Icarus because uhm... pride cometh before the fall or spend too much time in the sun and you'll get burned... or I have learned my lesson too many times in this manner to think a flight of this nature would turn out in my favor.)

Aww... pop psychologists... why you no like?! Don't think logic can be of any use to anyone anymore?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I don't know--flying = awesome. Falling? = OMG I'M GONNA DIE BUT FIRST I'M GONNA SHIT MYSELF!