Monday, February 13, 2006

Yeah. Still With Nothing Going On.

I've seen this in various permutations floating around the blogosphere. This particular one comes from Linda, over at Indigo Girl. I think this doesn't have any overlap questions from other memes I've done. If so, don't tell me. (Mom, some of these things you might want not to know. Just keep telling yourself, " Hey, she was young and she survived!")

Four Jobs I've Had:

1) "The Hostess with the Mostess" at the local Denny's. This one was over summer break after my freshman year in college. Yech. Really looked forward to going back to school and writing papers after this, I tell you. They offered to keep me on and train me as a waitress but I regretfully declined. The uniform? A striped polyester brown, orange and coral peasant top with dark brown polyester knee-length wrap-around skirt. Gives me hives thinking about it.

2) Cashier at the local PayLess over Christmas break my freshman year in college. This was in the way-back days where you had to key prices by hand into the register and use that machine that ran over your credit card (and fingers) manually. Oh, the stress balancing out at night against the receipts. Again, they offered to keep me on after the season. I fled.

3) Busgirl at a local "all-you-can-eat" called "Terry's Buffet". It was run by Terry and Roger and had been previously open as "Roger's Buffet" prior to that, but closed and re-opened with a New! Name! as a New! Restaurant! It folded after about a year, lasting slightly longer that it had as it's first incarnation. Busing heaps of plates of smooshed mac-and-cheese and chicken bones and melted soft-serve will put you off your appetite for days.

4) concessions, and then ticket sales, at a local 4-plex cinema. I did this for a couple of years during college and it rocked as a college job. Popcorn for dinner saved on the old food budget, too. (Sorry Mom.) Plus, I made lots of good friends there. Charles worked there, too, as did Stacy.

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over: (Only Four???)

1) Pride and Prejudice (1995). I rave and rave about it. The Best. Ever. I haven't seen the new one as I am just not *sniff* ready to see anyone new.

2) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. What can I say. I am a huge geek. Or is it a dork?

3) Bridget Jones's Diary. I can't explain it. I just love this movie.

4) Sabrina (1954). I actually haven't seen it in a bit but need to. I went through a time where I watched it at least weekly for months (sometimes twice a day). If I were a movie star, I'd wear nothing that Audrey Hepburn wouldn't have worn.

Four Cities I've Lived In:

1) Phoenix, AZ. Born there and left after a few months. Mom tells of large cockroaches. My close friend from college told of large cockroaches. I don't think I need to go back and see the large cockroaches for myself.

2) An Air Force Base in Masawa, Japan. Followed by an AFB in Tachikawa, Japan. You'd think living in Japan for 3 years I'd have at least one memory, but no. I was 3 and some months when we left. Pity. I'm not entirely sure if I'm spelling them right or if they were in the reverse order. Doesn't really matter. To me they are both in my head as lore.

3) Now defunct Chanute AFB outside tiny Rantoul, IL. Flat. Dusty. Lots of nice neighbor kids to play with.

4) Milwaukie (suburb of Portland) and various places in Portland, OR. Mom and us came back "home" to Milwaukie when ever Dad was stationed somewhere families weren't allowed (Viet Nam, Greenland). When Dad came to his senses and left the service, we moved "home" for real. I liked it well enough to stay for college, med school, residency, and after a year in Bellingham, returned to PDX until we left for good in 2000.

Four Non-current TV Shows I Love to Watch:

1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I loves me my Buffy.

2) Firefly. Face it, Joss Whedon is amazing. If I were Queen, I'd order those idiot network geebs to pull their heads out and re-instate the series. (By the way, Dana, as you are Queen of the Universe, why have you not attended to this?)

3) Farscape. Some of the very best things about Firefly are there in Farscape. Plus, it goes for several seasons.

4) Due South. A Canadian Mountie in Chicago! What's not to love? Truly. Get the first season and watch it and tell me if you think I'm wrong. And it's not just because Charles is 1/2 Canuck.

Four Current TV Shows I Love to Watch:

1) Scrubs. (I'm actually not watching it on network TV but behind via DVD.) Linda turned me on to it (kisses, Linda) I had Netflixed the first season and Mom got me 2 seasons for a Christmas present. I'm now working my way through season 2 as Charles has other shows he'd rather watch (he wants to see it but several other series are ahead in line). I was skeptical as I usually hate medical shows but this one does not purport to be factual (although it often is) and I love the little touches, like the chest x-ray being sometimes turned backward and sometimes not in the opening credits. It really catches the spirit of residency. I laugh loudly out loud. True, oh so true. Plus, two of the main characters are internal medicine residents, the least cool of all the branches. (As portrayed by this joke: Why are internists called fleas? (It's true, we are) Last thing off a dead body! Hahaha. (Yeah, asshole, unless it's the nearly-dead body in the ICU from a complication from the surgery you did, eh, Mr Surgeon-God. Then you are loving us fleas, aren't you? Who's your baby, now?) I know all these people and love/despise them dearly.

2) Gilmore Girls. Has some down spots but overall, I am a sucker. I have rented through season 5 and am waiting for the current season to come out on DVD, so, again, not really watching it in real time, but it's as close as I get.

3) Huff. Very brilliant. On HBO. We watched season 1 last year and are awaiting for season 2 to start in April. The DVR will be set.

4) Six Feet Under. Also HBO. Again, renting it and am into the second season. Excellent acting, very complex characters. You want to slap and hug each of them. (Wait. As I do the link, it seems that the series just ended. Oh well; my blog, my rules.)

Four Places I've Been On Vacation:

The Oregon Coast: I could easily retire here and spend my days eating fresh seafood and walking for miles on the beach. Can't wait to go back this summer with the kids.

Victoria, BC, Canada: Simply gorgeous. We honeymooned there and have vacationed there a few other times to boot. My very favorite city.

Door County, WI: Pretty. Quiet. Cherries. Ahhhh.

Guadalajara, Mexico. Went here for 2 weeks with my Spanish class as a high school senior. Lovely city with lovely people.

Four Of My Favorite Foods: (Only four??)

1) Seafood. Let me clarify: Fresh seafood.

2) Pie.

3) Chocolate cakey type foods. With chocolate frosting.

4) Chicken Caesar salad.

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

1) Up in the small loft above the living room with my plants; kitten on my chest, book on my stomach, quilt over my person, pillow under my knees, tea and cookies at my hand, and kids napping for a few hours.

2) At a quiet beach; say Rockaway, OR.

3) Doing a month long walking tour of a wine and food region of Italy or southern France. I'm not picky.

4) Doing a long tour of Britain and Ireland (pubs, gardens, manors, seeing my cousin and his family, that sort of thing.)

Four Albums I can't Live Without:

1) Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense

2) Carmina Pirhana: Revenge Poems. This band was in Portland in the mid '90s. The CD is some amazing, sultry, rich, rock that was written by the band for a performance of the Oregon Ballet Theater. It blew Charles and I away and we bought the CD at intermission. It is truly one of the very best things I've ever heard. Chills, baby. Chills.

3) Ani DiFranco: Little Plastic Castles, unless it's Not A Pretty Girl, or maybe Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up. Ok, ok. I know. Living In Clip and be done with it.

4) Fleetwood Mac: Tusk

Four Vehicles I've Owned:

1) My Grandad's 1967 VW bug. Beige. This car loved me and I loved it. My uncle has it now.

2) 1991 Subaru Legacy. Loved this car, too. I want another Sube.

3) 1996 Volvo sedan. "They're boxy, but they're good." Charles made me get this so when I got smashed into on the "Deathfield" freeway driving to and from work, I'd live. Car never had an accident, of course, but I knew he loved me.

4) Charles's 1970-something dark brown El Camino. No, not mine, but I rode in it enough to count it. Leaked carbon monoxide so you had to drive with the windows down at all times. (Sorry, again, Mum.)

Labels:

19 Comments:

Blogger listie said...

I love people's lists.

5:13 PM  
Blogger brooksba said...

I do enjoy these lists!

I did a stint as a hostess at Denny's too. It was a summer job thing and when school started I decided the other summer job I had was the one to keep. We didn't have the company uniforms, but I wouldn't recommend this job to anyone. Not joyous.

6:00 PM  
Blogger Coffee-Drinking Woman said...

Hey - what with all the pre-apologizing to your mom, I thought for sure there'd be some juicy tidbit about your past self - car that leak carbon monoxide? Ate popcorn for dinner? Sheesh! Throw a (tired, stessed out, needs a short diversion) girl a bone, would ya! (And heck, I still eat popcorn for dinner sometimes. What's so bad about popcorn?)

6:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my goodness...we have a lot in common! Bridget Jones...love it, own it, feels like I live it almost every day (within reason); Talking Heads and Ani DeFranco...awesome music there; and Farscape...brilliant! I was quite annoyed when the Sci-Fi Channel decided not to air it anymore.

awesome list!!!

6:10 PM  
Blogger Rozanne said...

I like the BJ Diary more than I can explain, also. Liked the sequel, too. And read both books.

Haven't seen either the new P&P or the 1995 but want to see both.

Rantoul. That place sure is out in the middle of nowhere. I stopped there once on a bus trip from Urbana to Chicago. A soldier of some description fell asleep w. his head on my shoulder. I was not pleased. I don't think it was your dad.

8:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I LOVE Door County; they have such fabulous jam. I don't know if you like winter sports, but Erik and I went to Bayfield, WI for a cross-country skiing trip and had a wonderful time. There are some really good restaurants up there and it's so peaceful. Plus, it's right on Lake Superior and that's gorgeous, too.

If we had gone in late January, instead of late December, the ice would have been thick enough to drive on, and then you can go see ice caves on Superior. Pretty cool! I highly recommend it.

8:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know why I remember this, but didn't Denney's make you sign a contract promising to not wear the uniform on non-company time? Were you ever tempted?

Gail

10:37 PM  
Blogger moegirl said...

Love your lists and will probably shamelessly copy you. The Denny's uniform sounds horrible. I can just feel the polyester.

I'm HUGE Bridget Jones fan. As a "singleton" until 34- I so related to her.

1:03 AM  
Blogger Diana said...

Listie- Thanks.

Beth- You were so right. Plus, at least at the one I worked at, the waitresses shared a bit of their tips with the bus boys but not the hostess. Not joyous at all.

Teri- Hey. Mom gets concerned about poor eating habits and inhaling CO. Plus, you think I'm putting a juicy titbit here? Sheesh. I'll save that for the e-mail, should any happen.

Amy- That's the fun of such things, I think. That and coming across something you'd have just passed off, otherwise. Like Gilmore Girls, for instance. Sounds too close to Golden Girls, but my guru for books, TV and movies (yup, Linda) loved it, so I tried it and found I loved it, too.

Rozanne- My memories of Rantoul are something along the lines of the cornfield scene from North By Northwest. Probably wasn't Dad, unless you were an infant at the time of the incident (we were there early 70s).

Ariella- Just think, soon you will be able to partake in such lovely things like Door County jam from your local store. We've been cross-country skiing a few times and had planned on getting the family skis for Christmas this year, but with the vet bills and all, had to postpone. As we have had minimal snow, it worked out well, anyway. Bayfield sounds right up our alley: Good food and quiet.

Gail- That's right. I had forgotten. I'm sure they were worried someone might shoot a porno flick featuring someone in a hot Denney's uniform. Oh baby, oh, baby, the smell of the smoke and the grease is just doing it to me, oh baby.

Stacy- I think the real appeal of Bridget is that to many of us, she is so "us". That scene where she introduces her boss at the launch party. That's me, just on a larger scale.

9:57 AM  
Blogger Lioness said...

Oooh, "Doing a month long walking tour of a wine and food region of Italy or southern France. I'm not picky."

*holler*
HALLO! We have mountains where you can walk till you bloody drop! We have amazing cheese and wine, even green wine! *furball*
*/holler*

Serenity, yeeeeesssss!!!! I've watched them all, one after the other, LOVE it! Dana still hasn't seen them, can you believe that?? And Buffy, I loves me some Buffy as well, and the Gilmore Girls! Am getting all light-headed (more likely to be from exam, think I've just passed medical semiology, iaiks). Also, have started watching My Name Is Earl - YOU LOT, you MUST MUST MUST See this, it's hysterical, I didn't think I'd like it but I adore it! And it doesn't even have to be seen in a sequence, jump right in. Veronica Mars still a bit vile tho, no hope for the shark I think.

Am dying to go see P&P in the theatre, and also Aeon Flux (not for you, you Matrix-loather)(how's bloody Tolkien better, pray tell? Uh? UH?). I love all Brit romantic comedies, they're simply so good at it.

3:03 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

Johnny- Just checking to see if you are reading, dahling.

I really need to look for these Portie wines over here (aside from port, of course). Do they have those lovely sounding tours where you leave your lodgings in the morning, and after a bit of breakfast, wander along to the vinyard, where they wine and lunch you, then you stroll along to the next town for dinner and your next bed, and so on? If you need a break, they have vans to tote you (and your bags) and SOMEONE ELSE sets the damn thing up because I just don't want to do that much work. If so, it's on my list.

(break to congrats you on the passing of the recent exam)

I had just decided that I need to see some "Earl".

As to that crack about "Matrix" vs Tolkien, I won't dignify it with a comment. Furball, indeed.

9:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you are a dork for loving LOTR, I must be a HUGE dork. I obsess over LOTR. Books and movies.

I am so not competitive, but my parents hosted a LOTR trivial pursuit party - had to come in costume - and I studied for weeks - and I was SO INTO it, I frightened myself.

I was dressed as an elf, of course. I wore my wedding gown and made pointy ears out of play dough.

Dorkville.

10:31 AM  
Blogger Diana said...

Gerah- I love you. In a completely dorky, non-creepy, internet way.

We got the Trivial pursuit game. And the Risk game. (Colin is into it, you see. It is all for COLIN. Yes. Ahem.) I won't tell you that I try the One Ring on from the Risk game in private.

One of my favorite presents is the bound set of the trilogy Charles gave me.

1:18 PM  
Blogger Jamie said...

My friend Julie had a car--a big Crown Vic type--with that same CO problem. We called it "Fumey."

10:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Diana -- I was just reading your archives and noticed that you say you go to Madison on a fairly regular basis. Once E. and I move there and are settled, we should have a cup of coffee or something!

Do you go in the summers for the Farmers' Market? I remember when E. and i were dating long distance how enamored I was of the Farmers' Market because we have nothing like it in NJ.

Oh, also: is the Sentry you shop at the one right by a big mall? Because if it is, then it's like 2 minutes from my in-laws' house.

12:52 PM  
Blogger Diana said...

Jamie- Ew. (Or should I say, "P-U stink-o!")

Ariella- Yup, the one at the end of the big mall. We drive into Madison pretty much every weekend to do breakfast and errands. We actually haven't done the farmer's market as we are usually a bit tired, leaving the groceries to last, and I have a decent garden myself. Plus, Charles isn't much into such (but I could be easily enticed...). Tell you what, I'll e-mail you when I get a sec and we can see what works. Hey, you're going to be living there, so I'm sure we will have lots of opportunities.

8:08 PM  
Blogger beckyb said...

A fellow Buffy fan...I heart you! I even named my fat feline furball, Buffy, though she is a spider and cricket slayer as opposed to vampires. Hmmm...I haven't noticed any vamps lately either so maybe she is multitalented?

Sorry I reverted to lurkdom but I do love reading your blog. :)

PS...did you get any of the snow mess from last night and today? I couldn't believe they closed our schools here today...K was so excited because it was his first snow day and he's in 4th grade, lol!

12:34 AM  
Blogger Diana said...

Beckyb- Hey, you! Yeah, we got about 8 inches all together, with some areas about 2' with the drifting. Our district was closed. (I think the 2nd time this year, but we are in a very hilly, rural area, so the busses have a hard time getting to most of the kids.) Charles's wasn't, though, so he had to drive in. Crazy. Good job, Slayer Kitty!

3:02 PM  
Blogger CarpeDM said...

I've been meaning to comment forever but it's been so busy at work (I hate tax season with a passion).

Anyway, I love this list. And I'm working on Firefly. I do not yet own Serenity yet. But it will happen. I do own a keychain from the movie that James gave to me. Sigh. I love that keychain. And my Batman keychain.

9:12 PM  

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