Saturday, September 23, 2006

Some things are hard in life...

One being that you finally have to admit that you have weird taste in music...
OK, you, the reader, may not... but I sure do.

I updated my iTunes today and as with every time I do this, I am just embarrassed by the music on it. The music that is mine, that is. If there is anything good (in terms of contemporary music) it came from my brother (cool contemporary things like Sigur Ros andThe Killers) or my Schatz (Techno and metal [which is a bit dubious but some of the kids I work with thought I was cool when they saw I had it], or it is on there for Squink (children's music, mostly auf Deutsch).

Just about everything on my playlist that I put there is part of my weird collection of music... the cowboy songs, andean music, the blow back to the 70's and 80's, the opera and bagpipes. And I love them all, there is some fabulous music in there... Bonnie Jo Hunts' music for example... If you have never heard Amazing Grace sung in Lakota then you have missed something amazingly beautiful, that kind of beautiful that brings tears to your eyes because you can feel the emotion of the song and the words that you can't understand but that sound so powerful, even though you might know the lyrics in English...

I read other blogs that tell about their music collection and I cringe... with envy. Granted my cringes are a bit odd too... I cringe at everything from old school punk through the Kingston Trio to gospel music... and I think to myself... how many of these folks actually collect bagpipe music?

My guess is that not one of you do.

So, in an effort to lay myself wide open to laughter and sighs of pity, for your viewing pleasure I present: 1) here is a link to my list of artists on the iTunes and 2) here is a link to the song titles on my iTunes.

Did you see them, the short list of interesting things mixed with the long list of things like my love for opera and bagpipe music?

The thing is that I love music, I just hate buying it.

If you feel really sorry for me, send me a CD with what you consider to be "real music" so I can feel a part of the human race again.

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Cheating

And the grad students most likely to cheat are... | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

It is interesting that the liberal arts and humanites areas were either less prone to cheating or more prone to lying...

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A bunch of questions.... answered

My dear friend Mrs. Ootfp, tagged me for this...

Were you born before the end of the first Gulf war?

Why yes, unless of course this is referring to the Ath Thawra al Iraqiyya al Kubra in which case I must answer no, not at all, wasn't even a gleam in my father eye...

Childhood nickname?
Liverwurst cheese sams (as in sandwich)... with the lovely diminutives of it... which include: liveren and sams... I have NO IDEA how that happened... I might add that the person that chose that nickname for me is starting to call the Squink "pea pot dome crisis" or something rather similar that escapes me now...

9/23/06 UPDATE: the nickname for Squink is "Stink Pot Dome Crisis"

Historical person you have the biggest crush on?
Thomas Jefferson.

How about admire?
Same, though I might include Chuck, Cassatt, Eliot, Somerville, du Chatelet and quite a few more but these are the ones that have grabbed my attention recently.

Favorite type of candy?
I like black licorice. I like dark chocolate. I was most excited about the candy when I moved to the US, but have not really craved any sweets of late.

Favorite foreign country(ies)?
Ecuador, the USA and Hungary.

Fish or chicken?
Fish - though I like hormone free chicken as well (this might be an interesting thing to post on (yes, I mean there is a story behind this answer).

Do you have your own perfume line?
Yes, it was made about 20 years ago and is called Blaize and was produced by Erne.

Have you ever written a children's book?
Yes, in my head.. my plan is that this will be my NaNoWriMo project for this year.

Have you been in a movie based on a book?
UH, don't think so.. I don't think that Clint and an Orangutan were featured on a paper page before the silver screen.

Ever posed nude for a photo?
yes, I was 4 and I think I was imitating the maja or some other lovely painting well beyond my years.

Guiltiest pleasure?
sleeping and reading.

Your best nonguilty pleasure, then?
Reading ;-D

What are you allergic to?
a certain class of medicine, and pineapple and carrots, but only if I eat too much of them (and that's separately BTW).

Worst pickup line you've heard?

This is it- read at your own risk...

XY: Whats Your name?
Me: Blair
XY: Nope, it is not!
Me: Oh really?
XY, No, but I do know your name.
Me: Oh really? (becoming increasingly bored by drunken idiots)
XY: Your name is Milk!
Me: Oh really? (sigh, heavy sigh)
XY: You do my body good
Me: This is good? (where I proceed to push him off his chair before I walk away).

Were you bar mitzvahed?
No, unless of course one counts any religious induction into adulthood and then my answer is yes, several.

Have you ever cried during a TV interview?
No, though there is a coffee commercial that is a whole different story...

If they made a movie of your life, who would play you?
There is some German actress that apparently resembles me.

Pet peeve?
When I think people are being stupid - I get really annoyed with myself when I judge people like that (unless of course they are).

If you weren't doing what you do, what job would you like to have?
I would love to be a physician, but apparently that is beneath me (per a professor I had).

Place you will never be found?
I would most likely never be found in a crack house, though to be honest one never knows... I might get curious to see what they look like inside... I am sure, however, that I would never be found in a compromising position with a gigolo.

Why did you participate in this tagging?
Fondness for my tagger and a love of memes.

I tag Jordana, Catherine and Jodi as well as any of my lurkers... like Kelley who can answer in my comments if she wants!

and here is some See Food for the Omas...
IMG_0627

Sunday, September 10, 2006

that face...


IMG_0593, originally uploaded by Blair Necessities.

As you may notice by his snotty nose, he is not feeling 100%, and neither am I.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Mom's hat


Mom's hat, originally uploaded by Blair Necessities.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Hannibal

About 11 or so years ago, I helped my crazy cat give birth. It was quite an ordeal as she was not quite 6 months old and knocked up... but she was a Hemingway cat and I loved her. It should not have been a surprise that each one of her babies would have the same status of being able to be called a polydactyl. She had five babies... Henry, Moo-Moo, Hannibal, Boadicea and Sir Albert Whitehead. Hannibal was the last cat I had to assist her with in the delivery... she was so little and he was such a big baby kitten that I almost had to do an episiotomy, but we managed to get him out without a tear and any other trauma. He was a shy and quiet little kitty, and was terrorized by his brothers and sister... so that is why I named him Hannibal. He needed a strong name, a fighting name... and I picked Hannibal. Though we always called him Ibbles or Ibbies.

Most of the time, while I was on bed rest, Hannibal was as you see him in the picture. He sat curled up at the foot of my couch (I did couch rest) and just hung out with me the whole 17+ weeks of it... bless him for that!

A month or so ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Today at 5 pm, we put him to sleep.

I was a smoker for the early part of his life and I feel so incredibly guilty for the part that played towards his demise.

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