Six Quirky Things

Kim tagged me with this Six Quirky Things about Yourself meme.

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other blogger's by linking to them.
5) Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

So 6 uninteresting quirky facts about myself are . . .

1. I don't like to talk on the phone. If I have to make a phone call (except for a quick call to a close friend), I have to psyche myself up for it, sometimes with many cups of tea.

2. I don't like drinks either really cold, or really hot. I make tea by the half-cup so I can add cold water to bring it to lukewarm, and I add tap water to cold drinks to make them less cold. When I'm out, I never get drinks with ice, although, if I order hot tea, I'll add ice cubes with a spoon to make it lukewarm. I found out a few years ago out that my sisters do this, too.

3. I never learned to type, so I've become a pretty fast two-finger typist. I always look at the keyboard when I type. I have small fingers, so I use a small keyboard - it's actually made for a PlayStation.

4. I never took a driving test. I learned to drive late and had an out-of-state ID, and I went to to take the driving test to get my license, but the lady behind the counter insisted that my out-of-state ID card was a drivers license and wouldn't listen when I insisted that it was only an ID. So she issued me a drivers license and I never took a test: government incompetence in my favor.

5. I rarely leave home without a jacket no matter how hot it is because I get cold easily, and many places over-compensate with the air conditioning. I never order cold drinks in restaurants for the same reason.

6. I like to sleep with the radio on. My tastes in music have changed over the years, from rock to Christian pop, to classical - but I've always had a radio playing all night.

Here's who I'm tagging:
1. Roxie
2. Mrs. Sensibility
3. Mama Squirrel
4. Dogwood Mama
5. Dawn ;)
6. Phyllis

A Visit to My House

I created my own meme!!

People who visit us get a taste of who we are, what we're into, and what we're like. I notice that my kids tend to show new visitors the same computer things they like, or play music for them that they love that our guests have probably never heard, and offer the same snacks.

Since there are lots of people I know via the internet who may never get the chance to visit us, I thought I'd offer a virtual glimpse of a visit to our house.

If you came to our house--

You would see:
Art posters on the walls (Mona Lisa; Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott, Miranda and the Tempest, The Shrine; Constable's Hay-wain; Bouguereau's The Bird Lesson; Edmund Blair Leighton's The Accolade; Sir Frank Dicksee's La Belle Dame Sans Merci; John Singer Sargent's Garden Study of the Vickers Children)

We'd probably feed you:
corn chips
Red Vines, if they aren't rock hard

And offer you this to drink:
diluted juice, or your choice of hot tea (we have lots of varieties!)

We'd undoubtedly ask if you'd read:
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lord of the Rings
(If you said yes, then we'd ask if you'd read The Space Trilogy or The Silmarillion)

We'd want to play this music for you:
Whirlwind of Leaves by Tom Root (our best friend's CD!)
Celtic Skies (unknown but great Celtic praise music)
Vienna Teng
Sara Groves
If you were a true Narnia fan: Roar of Love (2nd Chapter of Acts' Narnia album)
If you were a piano fan: Julianne Markavitch's CD of Tarentellas

We'd want to tell you the latest about:
The Prince Caspian movie we recently saw

We'd probably suggest a game of:
Quiddler (inside) or Frisbee Golf (outside)

We might show off:
Tim's graduation announcements, which are still in progress (if you wait a couple of weeks, we might be able to show you his actual diploma!)

We might get on the computer and show you:
Lego Beowulf (parts 1, 2, 3)
Weird Al's Star Wars American Pie


If it was a long enough visit, we might watch:
The Climb (a movie about two mountain climbers)
Our Mutual Friend PBS miniseries (it would have to be a really long visit for this one!)
The Sandy Bottom Orchestra
(Have you seen the Julie Andrews version of Cinderella?)

___________________________________________

What would a visit to your house be like?

We're tagging:
The Squirrels at Dewey's Treehouse
The Common Room
The Beehive
Liberty and Lily
U Krakovianki
Miss Roxie
Athena in a Minivan
Shilohmom at The Country Cottage
Katie at CM, Children and Lots of Grace
Excelsior Warriors Dawn ;)
I'm tagging Thimble Cottage, too - even though I'm there every week.

American Civic Literacy Test

I saw this posted on the cmason email list.

"USA Weekend magazine had an article on how American colleges are failing students in knowing American history, civics, economics. Here's the link for the test . . . see how you and your kids do compared to many colleges/universities."

I didn't do well - almost, but not quite, average, which wasn't very good to begin with.

Blogging Without Obligation

I saw this first on Beth's blog. She found it here, with an explanation of what it's all about. To be honest, that's been the way I've always blogged - if I have something to say, I post it. If three weeks go by and nothing strikes me, then I don't. My desire to say something has always gone in spurts, even before blogging. Blog lags never bothered me because, over the long haul, it all evens out. Now I'm part of a movement and it has a name. :)

I've been a bit saddened recently to see a few friends say goodbye to blogging. They have great reasons - wanting more time with family, etc. - but I haven't felt any nudging or desire to follow suit. Blogging Without Obligation allows me to blog when I want, and take breaks when I want, without a nagging sense that I should be posting something.

Fun Stuff

57
Found via a post at the Common Room.

Literary Meme

I saw this over at Little Pink House and thought it looked like fun.

How it works:

1.grab the book closest to you
2.open it to page 161
3. find the fifth full sentence
4.post the text of the sentence to your blog
5.don't search around for the coolest book you have, use the one that is really next to you.

The book closest to me is The Cloud of Witness, an old 1800's devotional. I keep it at the computer because I was transcribing it (now my newly typing son is!) It's a devotional book with many poems, and the fifth full sentence is from a Wordsworth poem.

So, like the Mountain, may we grow more bright
From unimpeded commerce with the Sun,
At the approach of all-invading night!

I also have Little Arthur's History of England right here (another one I'm transcribing) and Charlotte Mason's Volume 5 (I'm working with that one, too.) So where are the books I'm just reading? Come to think of it, I think I'm so busy working with books that I don't have even one that I'm simply reading!

What Poetry Form Are You?

Seen at Dewey's Treehouse . . .

I am heroic couplets; most precise And fond of order. Planned and structured. Nice. I know, of course, just what I want; I know, As well, what I will do to make it so. This doesn't mean that I attempt to shun Excitement, entertainment, pleasure, fun; But they must keep their place, like all the rest; They might be good, but ordered life is best. What Poetry Form Are You?

My second-place label:

If they told you I'm mad, then they lied.
I'm odd, but it isn't compulsive.
I'm the triolet, bursting with pride;
If they told you I'm mad, then they lied.
No, it isn't obsessive. Now hide
All the spoons or I might get convulsive.
If they told you I'm mad then they lied.
I'm odd, but it isn't compulsive.

To Which Race of Middle-earth do You Belong?

Numenorean Take this quiz!

(from The Common Room)

Peculiar Aristocratic Title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Most Noble and Honourable Tim the Rustic of Fritterton on the Marshes Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

(from The Common Room)

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

What's Your Personality Type?

We've been having fun with this online personality test. I scored INTJ, Mr. B scored ISTJ, and Tim scored INTP (gee, we're all a bunch of introverts here!) J just took it and scored ESFJ, but I think it's still too early to tell - so much of what he does is by default because of his family. I'd love for some of my friends to take it - Miss Roxie, Ginger, Sis and her mom, my Bioluminescent Twin, my AO friends.

One thing I found about the test - if you truly don't understand a question or strongly feel like you could go either way (they ask "yes" or "no" and don't give an "I could go either way" option), you can leave it blank so than an erroneous answer doesn't throw off your results.

This is my first time posting to our updated blog.

Edit: Here's a second variation of the test - you can take both to see if your results jive.

The Homeschooling Meme

I was tagged by Colleen to play!

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
School Education by Charlotte Mason

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT
Project Gutenberg's free e-books

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
Animal Farm; as soon as I got home, I found my missing copy and now I have two!

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
Free art at CGFA.

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
Travel books by H. V. Morton

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
["The Pilgrim’s Progress audio version that Mother Auma plans to use,"- we used this, but not last year. We loved it!!] The resource I would like to buy: Shakespeare plays on DVD

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
The perfect typing program

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING
I rarely look through homeschooling catalogues, every time I do, I start wondering what I'm missing and I start doubting what I'm already using. I do like Veritas, though.

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
Ambleside Online

10) TAG FOUR OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
Beth, Miss Roxie, Ginger, and Mama Squirrel

A Frivolous Book Meme

From Krakovianki's blog. She's been posting about a craft fair in Poland, which is of particular interest to me because Chopin was from Poland.

1. One book on your desk right now?
The Cloud of Witness edited by Mrs. Gell

2. One book with a bookmark in it that you haven't picked up for a few days?
The Mists of Avalon - I promised myself I would read it for the last five years. Finally, a few weeks ago, I picked it up and read a good bit of it - and was disappointed. I decided not to finish it, but the bookmarker is still there in case I relent and give it a second chance.

3. One book marked with a pencil (or other irregular marker) stuffed between the pages instead of a proper bookmark?
A small Children's Bible (I was underlining something)

4. One book with the cover falling off, or other grievous injuries?
The Age of Fable; luckily, we have a second copy.

5. One book you "ought" to be reading, but don't feel like it?
Too many to choose from

6. One book sitting on the shelf and enticing you to read it instead of anything else?
My son's DK book about Pirates

7. Your most recently acquired book?
The Cloud of Witness

8. One book on your "wish list?"
Norms and Nobility by David Hicks

9. One book you literally threw in the trash?
I haven't ever thrown any book in the trash, but Mists of Avalon may be a first

10. One person who ought to answer these questions?
Miss Roxie and Ginger (that's two, isn't it?)

Of good meals past

I was tagged by MamaSquirrel at Dewey's Treehouse to play this quiz created by the Apprentice, and I love talking about food! I like the fact that birthday cake, chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie are classified as "meals." Someone who thinks like me!!

What was the best ___ you ever had?

1. Pasta/spaghetti?
I've been making raw pasta with zucchini shredded like angel hair, and with a tomato/sundried tomato sauce that's pretty good.


2. Best chocolate chip cookies?
They're all so good, each kind has its own nuances and special qualities. But I still prefer vanilla sandwich cookies. Or coconut sandwich cookies.


3. Birthday cake?
Duncan Hines spice cake with white icing. I asked for this every year that I can remember when I was a kid.


4. Chicken burger?
Probably Chik-filet


5. Hamburger?
I haven't had a hamburger in probably six years.


6. Pumpkin pie?
My mother's - she uses the recipe from the side of the Libby's can, and it's always perfect, never too spiced.


7. What's your favourite food, and who made it?
When I was little, it was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and my mother made it (not often enough!)
I'm not sure what my favorite food is now. Maybe young Thai coconut (nobody makes it, you just open and eat), or maybe guacamole (which I make in various ways; it's never the same)


8. Name three people you'd like to join in.
Tim, Miss Roxie, and Beth.

And I Don't Even Knit!

You are "turbo" charged.
Fast moving and classy, you get things done with power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be deceiving, since what you really value is quality and efficiency. As you're careening around those corners in life, finishing a dozen knitted objects each month, stop and smell the roses. Don't miss the beauty of process!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to coffeemama!

Menu/Meal Meme

I was tagged by The Headmistress at The Common Room. I hate cooking, but these things are always fun, so I'm playing anyway. :)

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?

We probably eat 20 meals at home (mostly self-serve, rushed, or quick and easy) and we're a family of six.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

Maybe a dozen.

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?

Not even every week

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources (relaties, friends, magazines, advertisements, packages, the internet, etc)

I have a recipe collection, but when I decide to make something I've never made before, I always look online for a recipe anyway.

5. How do you store those recipes?

I've started keeping recipes that I plan to use regularly in a file on my hard drive.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

I have to follow it pretty closely.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?

My kids seem to like basic stuff that kids like, but I prefer Thai; I've been buying easy Thai meals recently.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count)

Cleaning up and getting out of the kitchen.

9. What's your least favorite part?

Deciding what to have for dinner, and rinsing and chopping lettuce.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Yes, usually.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

Microwave, blender (for green smoothies), can opener that doesn't leave sharp edges

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

A COOK! Or a Vitamix super-blender.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

I already bought it - it's a coffee grinder for grinding flax seeds and nuts.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

No.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

Dh usually buys groceries on his way home from work.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

Most are meatless.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

No theme (unless efficiency is a theme?) Colors - I like yellow and white, bright and clean and sunshiny.

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?

I don't remember, maybe a cake mix?

19. How did you learn to cook?

I remember making scrambled eggs a lot. I never could get them perfect, and it probably soured me early on cooking.

20. Tag two other people to play.

Miss Roxie
Beth

Here's Ours!

Details at The Common Room, it's our Word Cloud.

Edit: This is our 250th post. Hooray! We're already 1/4th of the way to quadruple digits...

Name That Earworm

I was tagged by MerryK at Beth Spera in Domino to play the earworm game.

"This game is simple. It has one rule: Name the song(s) that are ruthlessly stuck in your head at the moment (scientific name: earworms) And be honest. Ruthlessly honest."

Yesterday it was a song from Little Orphan Annie, but today I'm FREE!

I wish I knew what was playing in my head right now. It's a very short clip of orchestral music, rather high and ethereal, alternating between a major and a minor chord. My suspicion is that it's from the Two Towers soundtrack, because we just watched that movie a couple days ago. I have a bad habit of remembering music from a movie without remembering which movie it belongs to.

Also:
The Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera (I've not seen the movie, but I heard the song once years ago and it's been in my head ever since)
The battle music from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Quite thrilling.

"Merry so kindly tagged almost everyone I knew," and Pippin and my Mom did the rest. So I'll have to tag--You! Ha, you're it.

:D

Earworm Game

I was tagged by Pipsqueak at the Common Room to do "this Earworm thingy."

"This game is simple. It has one rule: Name the song(s) that are ruthlessly stuck in your head at the moment (scientific name: earworms) And be honest. Ruthlessly honest."

It's been an odd morning, with the strangest songs running through my mind. In fact, they're so unusual for me that I had to look them up to know what to call them.

Gee, Officer Krupke from West Side Story
"Thou Art Worthy" chorus
Mother's Little Helper by the Rolling Stones

I'm going to tag Miss Roxie (who will undoubtedly have some interesting song running through her mind!)
BetsyPage (I can't even imagine what kind of music runs through her mind!)
Dawn ;) who will probably name a beautiful song :)
Donna-Jean, who, no matter what I think she might post, will post something totally unexpected !

Five Weird Things - The Game

I was tagged by Pipsqueak of The Common Room to play.

"Rules: People who get tagged need to write an entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names."

1. I perform one-man renditions of booming orchestral pieces, which usually means an arrangement for humming, singing, whistling, and hand-slapping.

2. I've tried the wardrobe several times. And the closet. No snow or trees yet, but I'm still looking.

3. I know two different ways to hold a fork and three different ways to hold a pencil, and use them all.

4. I coated my hair in talcum powder once. It was a makeup test for Gandalf; but it didn't work.

5. I took a couple weeks of thinking and analyzing (alright, overanalyzing) before I wrote this. (See below.)


Five People I Tag:
Tim's Mom of Rusticanda
Just Here for Now and Madam Blueberry of Sunny Day
Anyone else who wants to participate
And...and that's all.


What do we mean by weird? Something that isn't normal. What defines normal in this case? Is it what is usual for homeschoolers? Or usual for our time? Or usual for humanity throughout history? Is it what ought to be despite what is? But how can we know what ought to be? (For although our Lord lived a perfect life, it doesn't model for us the specifics of modern living.) When we speak of a weird trait or doing, do we mean something unique that separates us from the rest of humanity, or do we mean something that does not conform to our abstract idea of an average person? Is weirdness absolute and objective, or is it something that each person defines for themselves? If the latter is the case, then how can we be sure that we are all talking about the same thing? Unless, of course, the purpose of this survey or game is to get an idea of the average idea of weirdness.

In a nutshell, without a definite "normal" there can't be a definite "weird". I suppose telling weird things about myself to people I've never seen, via a journal that doesn't materially exist, might seem weird to some.