What a great survey! (No really, it is.) My BFF wrote it, but it took me forever to answer it all, so I am gonna pass it around. I would LOVE to hear YOUR responses (and by YOUR, I mean all of y'all)


1. Are you one of those people who constantly has a song (or two) playing in your head? **YES


2. If the answer to #1 is “Yes” please tell me what’s playing up there right now and whether or not you are enjoying the fact that it’s stuck in your head.
**"Riot" by Three Days Grace. It has been there since before xmas. I think it is trying to tell me to get off my ass and do something!!


3. If the answer to #1 is “No” please try to explain what it’s like to NOT have a constant soundtrack running in your mind. ( I ask b/c I can’t imagine . . .)
**Yeah, right.


4. What’s your favorite city & why?
**I <3 Washington, DC.
.....a) my daddy lives there
.....b) ANYTHING you want to do is easily accessible (especially in Dad's conversion van with wide screen TV and a handicap parking pass!)
.....c) all the bullshit of politics doesn't seem to infiltrate the beauty of the museums and monuments - it really is beautiful
.....d) there is never any pressure at all when I am there


5. Tell me about the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited.
**Probably Fall Creek Falls, in the wee hours of the morning after a sleepless night. I remember the bridge and the red rock and the way the corridor of trees around the blanket of fog on the water looked like an entrance to another world. And the deer jumping beside the car as we left. Years later I went back and took pictures of the same spot - they were beautiful, but not the same.


6. What was your first concert or live musical experience?
**I think it was the Monkees in like '85 or '86. I was so in love with Davy Jones, then I saw him OLD. eeeew.


7. Ever had a spiritual moment at a live music event? Do tell.
**Both Pearl Jam shows I have attended (NOLA & NC) although I think the experiences were more freeing than spiritual. They were definitely the most fun I have ever had a live musical experience.


8. Do you have any reoccurring dreams? Describe . . .
**I have 2 kinds of reoccurring dreams - the kind where I have the same dream over and over AND the kind where I dream about mundane shit that ends up happening the next day. (The later is probably from an extreme lack of excitement of any kind in my life. Of course that seems to be changing daily as of late, but that is for a different post.)
When I was a kid, I had a reoccurring dream about me and my mother, set in the old west. She was inside the burning framework of a building, honestly quite safe from the flames. But I was panicking and trying to get the men on their horses to help her. When they wouldn't help, I would start walking though the maze of flames trying to get to her. Sometimes I would make it to her before I woke up. When this happened, I would lead her to the side of the room and we would step over the flames together. When I would wake up from these dreams, I would be less scared and more angry that she didn't just get out on her own. The times I would wake up before I got to her, I would be terrified.
I stopped having these dreams about the time I reached my teen years. (I have lots more, but one is enough for this post.)


9. Pet owners: do you sing to your pets; if so what do you sing?
**I sing to myself, loudly. Sometimes the cats listen, but usually they hiss at me and run away. I make up songs when I sing to Sparky because I like to watch him cock his head when I sing "Sparky dog".


10. Congratulations! You have been chosen to spend a year in an experimental biosphere. All your needs and comforts are provided for. You get to choose: 3 books, 3 movies, 3 CD’s and 3 people to bring along. What/whom do you choose?
3 Books (why are all my favorite books in sets!!!)
THE STAND, Stephen King
CHOKE, Chuck Palahniuk
PLAY IT AS IT LAYS, Joan Didion

3 Movies
(How am I supposed to choose just 3 Harry Potter films???? j/k)
Love Actually
Shaun of the Dead
Wonderfalls box set (with The Middle Man smuggled inside)

3 CD's
Pearl Jam, "VS."
Three Days Grace, (self-titled)
FightClub (the soundtrack)

3 People - ( I am going under the assumption that my family will have to remain behind, so...)
-Johnny Depp - cause the biosphere will need pretty people and he can perform plays for our entertainment (also I couldn't think of just one of his movies I would want to bring)
-Mom - cause she could completely use the break
-Lori - cause no matter how much time or space we spend apart, it always just feels like a blink in time (and also cause I know she would bring really cool movies, books and cds that I could borrow) [coreopsis, I would have brought you, but three years would be way too long for you to be away from your fandom - think of all the episodes you would have to catch up on *g*]
-[of course E has stowed away in my luggage - shhhh don't tell anyone. I didn't even think about bringing the princess because she would never stand to be away from er boyfran for that long]


11. Amazing! You have built the first working Time Machine! Where/when are you going first & why?
**Five years into the future. I wouldn't want to linger. I would just like to see where I am and the steps that get me there. And if my life is totally fucked up, I want the opportunity to fix it. (Of course, people would say that knowing the future would undoubtedly change it because you would assume events will come to pass instead of your actions bringing them forth - ... see what I just did there?? B's right about me.)


12. Now take that Time Machine back yourself at 16. You can send 1 message to that kid. What is it?
**I would tell myself that I actually can write and I enjoy it. Somewhere between 15 and 16, I decided I was a shitty writer. Actually, I think it was my Jr yr English teacher. She was a total bitch.


13. You wake up to gray, cold rain and another day working at the Salt Mines. What gets you up and moving?
**When I used to do that sort of thing, it was more out of a sense of obligation more than anything else. Also, I have to get up with the kids so that is a pretty good motivator.


14. Have you ever seen or heard a ghost? Would you like to be a ghost hunter?
**Once, just a couple of months ago, I was sitting at the computer (which faces away from the backdoor). Elizabeth always tries to sneak up behind me to scare me. (She never does because I could hear her breath in a helicopter.) Anyway, I was sitting here, in the silence, looking at Cake Wrecks and something touched me on the shoulder. I said, "Holy Shit, Liz, you got me!" and turned around really fast. There was nothing behind me. I yelled for Liz and jumped up from the chair. She was sleeping in my bed (other end of the house) with both of the cats. If a true ghost hunter has to deal with shit like that, I would much rather just be a vampire slayer!


15. Would you rather take a spontaneous road trip or plan a more formal vacation?
**I would much rather just hop in the car and take off, but my anxiety would never allow for that. :) I think if I didnt' have to worry about paying for anything (and the kids school schedules), I would be more apt to just get in the car and drive.


16. I’m coming over for dinner! What are you gonna cook for me?
**Anything you want!! I was just thinking about what to cook for the Liquor of the Month club meeting. I'm leaning towards fajitas, but only if I can find the lime jerk marinade I got the last time I made them. DELICIOUS.
OH, and I would have to make you one of my ChocoMochaLatte Bundt Cakes.
You can bring the wine. :)


17. Your luck is amazing! You just won a Pie Throwing raffle. You get to hurl a banana cream pie at 3 people of your choosing. Who’s it gonna be?
A.-My former (but still current) district manager  because he is such a twat.
B.The princess, because she once asked me to throw a pie in her face (she thought it would be fun.)
C.-I would probably use the last one to pie myself, to remind me not to be so serious all the time.
(Now, if you had said mud pies.......)


18. Jeez-Lou-eez! Your luck is phenomenal. You just won 150 Million in the lottery! Now that money is no longer an issue, what will you do with the rest of your life (please don’t say “shop!”)?
**First order of business - Go to St. Jude and give them money, then I wanna talk to the kids there. (I really wanna pat their precious bald heads, but I was told by someone that it would be insensitive, so I guess I will just give them hugs instead.)
Then I would like to self-treat my anxiety and take off on spontanious road, boat and plane trips. Oh, and I'm taking you with me. :)


19. Worst song ever recorded? (I know that’s a toughie, but just pick something.)
**(Easiest question in the whole list) "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder. Just thinking about the song makes me want to go deaf.


20. Last book you read? Was it good? If your answer is “I don’t read books,” well, congratulations! You’re part of the problem!
**CHOKE by Chuck Palahniuk and it was AWESOME. I love that the writing is so grimy and dirty. It gets into the moldy corners of your mind. Before that I read A CLOCKWORK ORANGE as research for my book. I'd never read. I picked it at random for my main character to read in school, but I was amazed how perfectly Alex's thought process reflected her own.


21. Last question! What’s the one talent you don’t have that you wish you did?
**I wish I could play the drums. Somehow my hands and feet cannot work separately from each other. For that matter, I would like to play ANY musical instrument because, alas, I cannot.

Wow! TMI.

Now that I have written my memoirs, I would like to hear YOURS. Copy and paste the questions below into your own note and get to work. :)

1. Are you one of those people who constantly has a song (or two) playing in your head?

2. If the answer to #1 is “Yes” please tell me what’s playing up there right now and whether or not you are enjoying the fact that it’s stuck in your head.

3. If the answer to #1 is “No” please try to explain what it’s like to NOT have a constant soundtrack running in your mind. ( I ask b/c I can’t imagine . . .)

4. What’s your favorite city & why?

5. Tell me about the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited.

6. What was your first concert or live musical experience?

7. Ever had a spiritual moment at a live music event? Do tell.

8. Do you have any reoccurring dreams? Describe . . .

9. Pet owners: do you sing to your pets; if so what do you sing?

10. Congratulations! You have been chosen to spend a year in an experimental biosphere. All your needs and comforts are provided for. You get to choose: 3 books, 3 movies, 3 CD’s and 3 people to bring along. What/whom do you choose?

11. Amazing! You have built the first working Time Machine! Where/when are you going first & why?

12. Now take that Time Machine back yourself at 16. You can send 1 message to that kid. What is it?

13. You wake up to gray, cold rain and another day working at the Salt Mines. What gets you up and moving?

14. Have you ever seen or heard a ghost? Would you like to be a ghost hunter?

15. Would you rather take a spontaneous road trip or plan a more formal vacation?

16. I’m coming over for dinner! What are you gonna cook for me?

17. Your luck is amazing! You just won a Pie Throwing raffle. You get to hurl a banana cream pie at 3 people of your choosing. Who’s it gonna be?

18. Jeez-Lou-eez! Your luck is phenomenal. You just won 150 Million in the lottery! Now that money is no longer an issue, what will you do with the rest of your life (please don’t say “shop!”)?

19. Worst song ever recorded? (I know that’s a toughie, but just pick something.)

20. Last book you read? Was it good? If your answer is “I don’t read books,” well, congratulations! You’re part of the problem!

21. Last question! What’s the one talent you don’t have that you wish you did?

Alright, now your turn.  Your instructions are at the bottom of the cut.  If you don't wanna post to LJ, you can email it to me!!