Random Dozen for 10.27.10

1. What scares you the most

A) Physically
B) Emotionally

Why does it scare you, and how do you cope?

2. What comes to mind when you read the phrase, "Nothing gold can stay?"

Random Dozen: Nothing Gold Can Stay

Appropriate for this season and today, for The Random, that is--Robert Frost wrote:

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

And I would add: Nothing Randomly Dozen can stay either.

I'm TAAARD, people.

I completely forgot the list this week.

I think it is time.

Time to shut down the Random, at least on a weekly basis; maybe I could handle it monthly.

So to ease into this transition, I'd like to post 2 random questions today, and you can link up tomorrow with your answers, if you'd like:

1. What scares you the most

A) Physically
B) Emotionally

Why does it scare you, and how do you cope?

2. What comes to mind when you read the phrase, "Nothing gold can stay?"

See you tomorrow, I hope!

Would You Like to Ride to Work With Me? I Didn't Think So

This morning, I noticed my eyebrows needed tweaking, but I was in a hurry, running late.

Those two situations are not compatible.

Unwisely, I used a little battery operated trimmer and mowed through my brow. (Of course!)

Yelling at yourself in the mirror does not bring back an eyebrow.

I decided to forego makeup until later, so I grabbed all of my stuff and headed toward McDonald's, which had two lines going, lines not long enough to make me late, but long enough for me to finish my face.

I inched my way through the line, adding blush, lipstick, concealer ...

I gave my order and proceeded to the point where the two lines combine, only to notice a woman in the other line inching her way toward the junction.

Clearly, it was "on," to see who would get to the merge point first. The song "Louie, Louie" was on the radio, which inspired me to "go":

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.
Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go
I said we gotta go now
Let's step on out of here
Let's go!

The racing blood that lurks somewhere within me as it does my actual racing brothers won this contest, even though I had only one eye lined with brown liner and half an eyebrow on that same eye and the top of my hair pinned up on my head in a hump. I felt like Courtney Love looks in this, my favorite picture of her:

Sometimes victory is not pretty. But it's the win that counts. Sweet victory!

Oh, I SO won.

But I noticed as I drove away that my sack and coffee cup were damp.

I pulled into my parking spot, got out, noticed there was liquid dripping down the driver's side door. *shrug*

I got to my desk, put down my food, checked my messages, etc., and saw out of the corner of my eye coffee seeping out from the bottom of my giant cup, running all over and down my desk.

I don't believe in Karma, but if I did ....

So even though it's just a typical Thursday morning, that's how I got myself to work.

Wanna ride tomorrow?

It's Midnight; Link Up for the Random

Random Dozen: I Get By With a Little Help from My Lid

Well, as you know, I bombed this week as far as meeting my Tuesday deadline. So sorry. If I tried to tell you why I was otherwise preoccupied, you probably wouldn't even believe me, but I'm not at liberty to tell, anyway, so just trust me--what a week.

I chastised myself, "I should probably have a couple of these surveys tucked away for weeks such as this," but then I realized, "It's a meme. It's a small meme on a small blog about random questions. It is OK to miss a week." There was a time I would have been afraid of losing readers because of a stunt like this, but that time has passed. So while I'm not proud of my failures, I'm not losing sleep over this failure. There are plenty of others to lose sleep over!

Then Tuesday at work, I received an email message from my friend Linda at Mocha With Linda, in which the subject line read, "You'll get by with a little help from your friend." And within this message were 12 questions, all dressed up and ready to go with me, if I took them by the hand and led them here, which I'm now doing.

So all of these Q's come from "deep in the heart of Texas," yea, even so, the beautiful heart of my Co-Lid. You can see my symbolic picture up there of how the Random is being supported by the Mocha. I'm kinda symbolically artsy like that. Thanks for the piggyback, Lid.

Oh, and one more thing: Linda hosts a weekly meme as well, called "Flashback Friday." So you should hop on over to her blog Thursday and read her prompt so that you can participate on Friday. The button looks like this:




OK, now to your questions. Please return here tomorrow, Thursday, and link up.

1. Do you prefer to read the book or see the movie?
2. What is your favorite holiday and why?
3. Which do you like better - the mountains or the beach?
4. If money were no consideration, what vehicle would you drive?
5. What is your favorite cold-weather beverage?
6. How do you communicate most often with your friends: phone, email, text, face-to-face, or Facebook?
7. How do you receive your mail? Mailbox on the porch, at the end of the driveway, down the street, or post office box?
8. Of the four basic personality types - sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric - which is your strongest? Which is your least evident? (See definitions below.)
9. What do you miss the most about being 20?
10. How long from the time you get up, does it take you to get ready to walk out the door in the morning?
11. Who handles the car maintenance and pays the bills in your family?
12. For those in the US, how many states have you visited? For those outside the US, how many provinces/other countries have you visited?

Personality type definitions courtesy Wikipedia:

Sanguine

The Sanguine temperament personality is fairly extroverted. People of a sanguine temperament tend to enjoy social gatherings, making new friends and tend to be quite loud. They are usually quite creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean very sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic. Often, when pursuing a new hobby, interest is lost quickly when it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much people persons. They are talkative and not shy. For some people, these are the ones you want to be friends with and usually they become life long friends.

Choleric

A person who is choleric is a doer. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. They like to be leaders and in charge of everything.

Melancholic

A person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very considerate and get rather worried when they could not be on time for events, melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist. They are often self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is sometimes they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

Phlegmatic

Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats.

Mea Culpa

I'm a day late and a coupla dollars short on the Ol' Random. What a week. I'll catch you Wednesday? Thx

Good News For Our Family

This somber child just got engaged to be married Saturday afternoon. Therefore, she is no longer somber. She is, in fact, in proposed-to, engaged bliss.

From a mother's perspective, how did this happen? I mean, shouldn't she be picking up her toys or going to dance class or getting her braces checked or at least just asking for the car keys?

Congratulations, Katie and Shad!

Time for me to start shopping for the perfect "Frother of the Bride" dress (Frumpy Mother of the Bride)!

OK, So There's No Number 4. I Got Lazy & You Got a Break.

Dear Alert Readers:

Thank you for all the heads-up I received about neglecting the poor #4. I have no idea what happened to him. Maybe he felt too good to be part of my Random list. Maybe he was a question about national security or the public education system or the meaning of life. And so he just disappeared before I noticed to be disassociated from all the riff-raff questions about high school pictures.

We'll just soldier on without him.

1. Is there a word which you initially mispronounced? Were the circumstances in which you made the faux pas embarrassing? By the way, that's not "foax pass." (I know you know that. Just jokin' with ya.)

2. How do you feel about the use of texting shortcuts and trends? (ex: "I've got ur notes. Get them 2 u 2morow.")

3. Tell me about your high school senior picture. Please feel free to post.

5. Share a high school or college homecoming memory.

6. Linda at Mocha with Linda wants to know: "Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?"

7. Lea at Cici's Corner asks, "What is something you have not done that you desire to do?"

8. Carol at Wanderings of an Elusive Mind ponders, "If you could come back [in another life] as an animal, which would it be?"

9. Joyce from The Other Side of the Pond is curious: "Where were you 10 years ago?" Please feel free to elaborate more than just your physical location.

10. When you are proven to be correct in any contentious discussion, do you gloat?

11. What is your favorite food which includes the ingredient "caramel?"

12. From my 17 year-old daughter to you: "If you could be part of any fictional family, which family would you choose and why?" (She's so cute. And clever.)

Gratuitous pic of the author of #12:

Growing weary of the neon doughnuts. Any suggestions for a new & improved RD button?

I'm growing weary of the neon doughnuts. Any suggestions for a new & improved RD button? If so, slip me an idea in the comments. You are also encouraged to leave any Random Dozen questions for future use!

This week's questions are an amalgam of your suggestions from last week and my own new ones. (Hello, word--amalgam--that I have not used in years which must have lain dormant until such a time as this.) I remember when I first saw amalgam, I wasn't sure whether to pronounce it a-MAL-gam or AMMAL-gam.

Which leads us to the first Random Dozen question this week:

1. Is there a word which you initially mispronounced? Were the circumstances in which you made the faux pas embarrassing? By the way, that's not "foax pass." (I know you know that. Just jokin' with ya.)

2. How do you feel about the use of texting shortcuts and trends? (ex: "I've got ur notes. Get them 2 u 2morow.")

3. Tell me about your high school senior picture. Please feel free to post.

5. Share a high school or college homecoming memory.

6. Linda at Mocha with Linda wants to know: "Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?"

7. Lea at Cici's Corner asks, "What is something you have not done that you desire to do?"

8. Carol at Wanderings of an Elusive Mind ponders, "If you could come back [in another life] as an animal, which would it be?"

9. Joyce from The Other Side of the Pond is curious: "Where were you 10 years ago?" Please feel free to elaborate more than just your physical location.

10. When you are proven to be correct in any contentious discussion, do you gloat?

11. What is your favorite food which includes the ingredient "caramel?"

12. From my 17 year-old daughter to you: "If you could be part of any fictional family, which family would you choose and why?" (She's so cute. And clever.)

Please post your answers tomorrow, then come back here to link up. Happy Randomizing!

My Birthday Random

1. From "Men Are Dumb ....": If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be?

Probably the happiest pop song ever written: "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. I know, I should have probably thought of something a little deeper, but this is my first response, so it just may be the most accurate.

2. From Pam of "Alert And Oriented x 4": Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse?

I'm thinking of creating a photo file entitled, "Shoes I Have Known and Loved," sort of a "little black book" of shoe relationships. Here are some in ascending order of love:







But I have to say, my running shoes, they are dear to me for what they do for my life. So here's props to the tennys:


I have very little shoe remorse. Once I bought a pair of slingbacks that would NOT stay on my feet, no matter what I did. That was bad.

3. From Susanne of "Living to Tell the Story": Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced.

When I was 40, my friends threw me a party at my favorite Mexican restaurant. They also invited a few of my other closest friends, so it was very meaningful. Also, that was the year Jorge bought me the Camaro. What a birthday! Maybe 50, in a couple of years, will be just as serendipitous.

4. From Lori of "Just me and My Life": If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be?

Peanut butter.

5. Cindy Swanson of "Notes in the Key of Life" asks: Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing?

I've always preferred musicians to actors. I remember when I thought Paul Newman was just an old man and couldn't figure out why everyone seemed to like him so much. The other day, however, I watched a Paul Newman movie and thought to myself, "My goodness. Now I get what all of the fuss was about. What a pretty man."

6. Jill from "Jill Boyd's Place" inquires: Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be?

Braces, for they are temporary. I have glasses and HATE them with a searing white-hot hate.

7. Nel from "Fasteneau Facts" asks: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Siesta Key, Fl

8. Thena from "Patiently Waiting" wants to know: If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive?

Strictly selfishly speaking, I would love a shopping spree or new car. How predictable, I know.

9. From "Life Through Bifocals," LynnMarie asks: What is your favorite birthday meal?

Probably vegetable nachos at my favorite Mexican place. But what would really get me excited is no-bake chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookies.

10. Debby at "Just Breathe" checks in with: Do you still send hand-written thank you notes?

Yes, I do, unless it's a gift from my really close girlfriends. My parents, bless their hearts, write thank you notes to us kids when we give them gifts, which I wish they would not do. It feels too formal and weird, but I don't think they'll be changing that habit since they're in their mid 80s. It's just heart-breaking, somehow, to see that unsteady handwriting in the mail thanking me for some puny gift in light of the life they have given me. Love them.

11. Linda from "Mocha with Linda" poses this question: What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do?

I've been to Kazakhstan twice to teach English at summer camps.

12. Jewel, my homegirl from Indiana who writes at "Musings from the World of Jewel," is very insistent that we answer this: Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?

Dave Barry?
Ronald Reagan?
Billy Graham?

No.

Mr. Rogers.

Your Random Awaits

Please leave comments as you visit! Bloggers live for comments!

1. From "Men Are Dumb ....": If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be?

2. From Pam of "Alert And Oriented x 4": Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse?

3. From Susanne of "Living to Tell the Story": Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced.

4. From Lori of "Just me and My Life": If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be?

5. Cindy Swanson of "Notes in the Key of Life" asks: Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing?

6. Jill from "Jill Boyd's Place" inquires: Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be?

7. Nel from "Fasteneau Facts" asks: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

8. Thena from "Patiently Waiting" wants to know: If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive?

9. From "Life Through Bifocals," LynnMarie asks: What is your favorite birthday meal?

10. Debby at "Just Breathe" checks in with: Do you still send hand-written thank you notes?

11. Linda from "Mocha with Linda" poses this question: What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do?

12. Jewel, my homegirl from Indiana who writes at "Musings from the World of Jewel," is very insistent that we answer this: Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?

Excellent questions, All! Here we go ....

It Was My Birthday, And You Wrote the Random!

Asking you guys to submit questions is like THE smartest thing I've ever done in my 47--no, wait--48 years.

I wish I could link each question to its creator, but I realized as people copied and pasted the links would not copy anyway, so if you would like to visit the person who created the interesting question you're answering, please see the comments section of yesterday's post. Clear as mud?

Anyway, thank you all. Happily, I received more than enough questions for this week, so I'll have leftovers for next week! Whee! If you are not included this week, please look for your question next week.

OK. Remember: Read and compose today, post tomorrow, link tomorrow and visit others. Please leave comments as you visit! Bloggers live for comments!

1. From "Men Are Dumb ....": If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be?

2. From Pam of "Alert And Oriented x 4": Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse?

3. From Susanne of "Living to Tell the Story": Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced.

4. From Lori of "Just me and My Life": If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be?

5. Cindy Swanson of "Notes in the Key of Life" asks: Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing?

6. Jill from "Jill Boyd's Place" inquires: Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be?

7. Nel from "Fasteneau Facts" asks: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

8. Thena from "Patiently Waiting" wants to know: If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive?

9. From "Life Through Bifocals," LynnMarie asks: What is your favorite birthday meal?

10. Debby at "Just Breathe" checks in with: Do you still send hand-written thank you notes?

11. Linda from "Mocha with Linda" poses this question: What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do?

12. Jewel, my homegirl from Indiana who writes at "Musings from the World of Jewel," is very insistent that we answer this: Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?

Excellent questions, All! Here we go ....

Birfday Request

It's my birthday, so in the words of Van Halen, "Might as well JUMP!"

Actually, I'm trying out my new compression socks that came in the mail Saturday. They are supposed to hold my calf muscles in place to avoid re-injuring my injury. Pretty sad when you are so old that you need surgical socks to hold your muscles together!!


Where was I?

Yeah, it's mah birfday; it's mah birfday.

I don't usually ask for gifts on my birthday, but I'd like to today: Will you send me a question that you would like to see on this week's Random Dozen list???

It would be simply grand if I didn't have to



so hard on my birthday.

Cause I'm too busy wearing my NEW RED SHOES which I purchased this weekend on a shopping trip with my Girls Group--woo2thehoo!!




It's not the first time I've done red shoes. Those of you who read here often have seen THIS photo once or twice:


Yikes, I promise not to wear white hose with these new ones.

In two years, I'll be eligible for the Red Hat Society, but until then, I'll just be rockin' these ruby slippers!

OK, so please make my birthday a happy, carefree one by submitting those questions in your comments here! Thanks!!!

Simply Red: Holding Back the Years

Genesis of a Blog Post, Or "Lid, How Do You Come Up With that Junk You Write?" and Flashback Friday

Sometimes people ask, "Lid, where do you get your snazzy ideas for blog posts?" Well, the answer is, I work really, really hard on being witty, current, snazzy and most extremely, brainy-ish.

Like this guy:


So now I take you to the inner workings of my brain to hook you up with "Genesis of a Blog Post."

Here is an actual Facebook message between Lid of Mocha With Linda and me which turned into a blog post:

Mocha Linda to 2nd Cup Linda: Good morning, my friend! Just wanted to say I hope you have a splendiferous day! Can't believe tomorrow is October 1st!

2nd Cup to Mocha: Good morning, to you, too!! I just came from the doc where I received an injection of cortisone into my left buttock. How's THAT for detail?

My eyes are doing the swelling thing again.

Speaking of Oct., my b-day is this month. Now normally, I don't broadcast it, except maybe on my blog where most people don't know me personally. However, this week, on a local radio station, they started a contest wherein you can win a birthday cake from a beloved local bakery which makes cakes to die for. So I thought, "I will enter." That was yesterday. This morning, as I was putting on my makeup, I heard "Happy birthday to Linda Crow, 48 years old today."

??? I forgot to put in a date, I guess. Sad part is, my birthday is next week, and that's when the contest starts. So now I think I will contact the station and say, "I think I got my birthday wrong."

Oh boy.

I think I just wrote a blog post here! haha.

Yep, I believe I did.

**************




What toys do you remember from your childhood? What did you like to do to entertain yourself? Did you mostly play inside or outside? Did you ride a bike all over the neighborhood? Play baseball in the backyard? Basketball in the driveway? Did you have to "get permission" to play at a friend's house, or were you and your friends back and forth between houses all the time? If you had siblings, was there a distinction between your toys and theirs? Did you "inherit" any toys from older siblings? What were the "fad" or "must-have" toys of your generation? Did you parents buy them? Was there a toy you always wanted and never got to have?

I played by myself a lot when I was little and had a vivid imagination. I had an imaginary friend named "Tacko," who I pictured looking something like this:



When I did play with neighborhood kids or cousins, I played pretend or The Partridge Family. I was usually Tracy, keepin' it real with my tambourine.

I liked to ride my bike and run little races in my backyard.

I also loved Barbies and other dolls, like Baby First Step, whom I have written about ad nauseum here. But she was so cool. She walked like Baby Frankenstein.



Here is a Barbie parade, featuring Barbies riding the ever-popular "Canister Vacuum Cleaner" float. I believe I was either anticipating or had already viewed a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.



As I got older to loved to play volleyball in our street at night with friends. We would play well past dark by the street light. So much fun. Especially since the boy who lived down the street was suddenly, inexplicably, very cute.

Thanks, Lid, for sharing life and laughter with me--from miles and miles away! Someday we'll meet in person!