Eight Facts About Me:

The rules:
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. It is fun to be in my brain. There’s a movie going on all the time and it’s full of fascinating (but not real) people.

2. When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with the last word people say before they die. I used to collect information on people’s last words. I would also make sure to pay attention to the last thing I said before I went to bed so that if I died in my sleep, I would know what my last word was. This went on for years.

3. I hate naps. I have never taken naps, even when I was a baby. Watching people take naps makes me extremely impatient.

4. I would love to take a vacation where I drive around to major literary landmarks and see rare books in libraries. I just don’t know who would go on this vacation with me.

5. I think my earliest memory was a dream. We were in the car and my mom was wearing a bathrobe and curlers. I don’t think she would leave the house like that.

6. Logically, I know babies are humans, but they don’t seem human. They seem more like puppies.

7. My parents bought a computer when I was 8 and I was the only kid I knew who had one. I spent most of my childhood on a computer playing games no one has heard of today, because everyone else had a Nintendo.

8. I used to be very serious about being an actress. I was in so many plays in the small town I grew up in, I was recognized on the street. Now I know I would have been a terrible actress and I’m glad I didn’t pursue it as a career.

I tag:

Leona (who already did it), Marcia, Krista, Troy, Stephanie, Robin, Paul, Laura.

Oh wow this is so cool. Someone do this to my laptop… Please?

“Writer Mary Robinette Kowal modded her laptop so that the keyboard would resemble keys on an old-fashioned portable typewriter. ”

Link via Boing Boing, which broke Mary’s website. I will have to look into how she did it later.

UPATE: More here.

What if Harry Potter ended the way The Sopranos did? Click here to find out. Complete with audio.

Will Ferrell has a little skit on Funny or Die that made me laugh. Terrible landlord!

About six months ago, I decided to get TV again after years of not having it. For the first time in ages, I watched daytime talk shows and Cosby Show re-runs and E! rundowns of celebrity gossip. It was fun for awhile, but now I’m experiencing the problems I originally had with TV. For one thing, it is boring 75% of the time. For another, I am getting what I call TV dread–a creeping, vaguely sickish feeling that comes over me when watching a show, a sense that this just doesn’t represent me. It’s like the emotional equivalent of eating too much junk food–you just don’t feel well after overindulging.

That said, when I like TV, I really like it. I love The Office and Heroes. Both shows are clever, well-written, and watching them is a valid use of my time. And while I have access to those shows without paying for cable, there is a host of other shows I like, ranging from Project Runway to American Idol to Gilmore Girls, that make keeping TV worthwhile, at least for now.

Still, I was irritated enough to call and get my cable package reduced. And I’m considering another option: The TV Cozy.

The worst problem with TV is how easily it becomes a habit. It’s such a convenient way to unwind that I find myself watching it almost without thinking about it. So, I had this idea awhile back–a decorative cover for your TV that makes watching it more deliberate. If you have a TV Cozy, you have to get up and take it off before watching TV, which means you also have to consciously think about whether or not to watch.

The only other person I know of who had this idea was Stephanie at the Little Birds Handmade blog. This is her version of the TV Cozy, which I think is pretty cool:

Unfortunately, Kyle is not into the idea of my making a TV Cozy. He seems to think it would be a big frou-frou craft project, a TV version of this:

And maybe he’s right. Maybe instead of making an elaborate cover for the TV I should just exercise a little more self-control. But still, I think the TV Cozy is a good idea for someone, somewhere.

UPDATE: There is a pattern for the TV Cozy in the current issue of Blueprint Magazine, which you can look at here. I don’t know if I like how they did it (looks too much like a pillowcase), but with the right fabric or some embroidery, it could be cool.

As part of my continuing attempt to make each writing day unique, I wrote on the roof today. It was warm up there and pretty comfortable. Plus, I like being up high.

Thoughts I had while on the roof:

Wow, neat!

I have no place to set my diet pepsi.

The landlord probably wouldn’t like this.

I could almost pretend that I live in a New England village up here, if it weren’t for that stupid palm tree.

It’s getting kind of hot. I am glad I put on sunscreen.

I wonder if I could sit on the chimney.

The neighbor’s cat sounds creepy when it meows, like someone stepped on its voice box.

If I sat on the chimney, I would be like Fiddler on the Roof, only I would be writing. Writer on the Roof.

I need to blow my nose. Why didn’t I bring some tissue?

If I were a Rich Man… Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.

Didn’t Madonna or someone lame cover that song? Oh yeah, Gwen Stefani. What was up with that?

All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.

I really need to blow my nose. How do I get down?

I mean, even if I fell, it’s not like I could get hurt from this height.

Ok, ok, I am not a cat. I got up here, I can get down.

That was fun. I don’t know what it did for my writing, but I will probably go back up this afternoon.

From Here:

Link via Bookslut

This weekend, Justin and Stephanie hosted a DDR Party in their apartment in San Francisco. DDR, as you may know, is a music video game where you match arrows on the screen to a dance pad.

The DDR Screen

To quote from Wikipedia:

The game is played on a dance pad with four arrow panels: left, down, up, and right. These panels are pressed using the player’s feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success is dependent on the player’s ability to time and position his or her steps accordingly.

Granted, you don’t have to live in Petaluma to have a DDR party. In fact, you don’t even need a TV–Justin and Stephanie used their computer–just snacks, friends, and the game. Here’s some pictures:

Marcia had only played DDR once before.

Justin is fancy and tries to do the steps backwards

A blurry photo of me playing. Apparently, I am sassy when I play DDR.

Casey hadn’t played DDR before either, but she danced with flare.

Afterwards, Stephanie brought out the chocolate salami she had made: Nuts and cookies and rich fudge-like chocolate rolled up like a salami. Delicious! Thanks for the great time Justin and Stephanie.

Stephanie and the chocolate salami

It is the holiday season. That means parties! In particular, my 30th birthday party, which we held here at our house. Most of the people I wanted to come came, which made me happy. There were good appetizers and good conversation and also, presents. Here are some photos, taken by party guests, probably Troy and Justin.

Kat, Krista, and Leona

Front: Kyle, Luther, Avi, Me. Back: Kat, Eric, Paul, Sasha

The side of my head, the back of Marcia, and Laura in the corner

Tony, Kyle, and Paul

Justin, Tony, Stephanie, Mark, and Krista

Me, opening presents.

I am really really enjoying this mash-up by dj BC of hip-hop and dixieland jazz. Louie Armstrong and Method Man? Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Old Dirty Bastard? How does that work? And yet it so does. Oh and did I mention that you can download the whole album for free?

(Uh, once upon a tme, this was going to be a lit blog. I wonder what happened to that.)