116 posts tagged “qotd”
What's the best gift you received this year?
Which friend or acquaintance most influenced your taste in music?
Submitted by Rev Stan.
Easiest answer ever - Andrew. I've known Andrew for something like 9 years (omg) and in that time, he's subtly brainwashed me into liking several bands and artists. Here's a list off the top of my head:
- Cibo Matto
- PJ Harvey
- Sleater-Kinney
- Rilo Kiley
- The Postal Service
- Bis (? I may have discovered them myself)
- The Gossip
- Bloc Party
- Peaches
- CSS
- Goldfrapp
- The Knife
- LCD Soundsystem
- Royksopp
Wow that's a longer list than I thought and I'm sure I'm forgetting some! Let's make a list of the bands I've introduced Andrew to:
- Bat for Lashes
And he would've heard of them anyway :(
Andrew's birthday is soon and it's making me all misty-eyed with memoriiiiies of when he was like 17 and I was 19 and all we ever did was listen to Tori Amos and sit at Denny's. Now we're old and have jobs and bills and... *sniffle*
I'll freak out more when he turns 30 than when I do because somewhere in my head, he's still that pink haired, skinny boy who picked me up at my parents' house with Jess and we were all so shy and awkward and then he licked chocolate syrup off a plate and I knew we'd be friends forever <3
What do you think your pets would act like if they were people? Do you think you'd get along with them?
Submitted by Melissa.
I was talking with my mom yesterday about Murphy the family dog, who is now 12 and losing his hearing. He's about 112 in dog years, I guess. He's on meds for epilepsy, incontinence, and arthritis. He can smell food from across the house, so I guess his nose is still in working order.
The young female dog who lives behind my parents just loooooves him, so maybe he'd be an old rich guy who always has young, hot girlfriends? Maybe he'd go to casinos and drink whiskey and smoke cigars and wear dress socks with sandals? Maybe he'd sit on the porch with his glass of tea and scream at the kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!!" and the kids would call him Old Man Murphy? Who knows.
In 5 words or less, who are you?
Submitted by dejablu503.
I am a unique snowflake.
Tell us about a lesson you had to learn the hard way.
I hate admitting this, because I'm lazy and stubborn about it, but eating decent food and getting some exercise really is the best way to help with a lot of problems. I haven't cut sugar out of my life completely, but 90% of what I eat is well balanced and healthy, and I do feel much better.
I've been on this track for 3 weeks now and the only "real" dessert I've had was a slice of vegan chocolate cake the other night. I guess once you get out of the habit of reaching for sugar for every little situation, you don't want it as much.
I cleaned out my kitchen and got rid of anything really junky so that if I do want something like that, I physically have to go out of my apartment to get it. That gives me time to decide whether or not I really want it (the particular thing, not just SOMETHING in general) and since it requires effort to go get it, it's usually not worth it to me. This is how laziness can work in my favor!
Another thing is that I'd usually go for sugar when I was feeling tired or stressed, or had gone too long between meals. I'm not jogging 5 miles a day or anything but I've been walking more, doing the yoga DVD, and added the "Walk Away the Pounds" DVD (I know, the title is scary) and lo and behold, I'm not as tired! And I've been careful about going too long between meals and not letting my blood sugar levels drop, so I'm not as likely to go for sugar just because I'm hungry and need something NOW.
The interesting thing is that I'm physically eating MORE food but because it's healthy stuff, it all adds up to be a lot less fat and calories at the end of the day. Duh.
All of this has, in fact, helped considerably with anxiety and stress. I still have anxious moments but it's not as bad as it was, at all.
Now, this might be really common knowledge and I know someone is going "God, she's kind of dumb" right now but I was never really taught how to eat well. My mother eats very little and what she does eat is crap. I always thought that eating healthy is a punishment for being fat (I think this explains my aversion to baby carrots). I didn't know that there were REAL benefits to it besides just losing weight. No one told me!
I guess I'm a little thick sometimes, literally and metaphorically :P
And ok, I have lost a few pounds and my clothes are starting to fit
better and ultimately, yes I would like to lose weight. You're onto me.
I have guilt issues about this so I'm going to leave it at that.
When was the last time you interacted with any sort of wildlife?
Submitted by warpedreality.
Well, there are a lot of dogs in my neighborhood but they don't count. Pigeons? I see a lot of those. Uhh we drove past some cows in Wisconsin.
Yeah, I guess I don't interact with wildlife on a regular basis. Maybe I'll visit the zoo soon and stare at some animals. That's about as close to nature as I get.
When was the last time you did something dangerous?
Submitted by Ross.
I won't even cross an intersection if I don't have the walk signal, so you're asking the wrong girl.
Happy Earth Day! What are some of your favorite ways to reduce, reuse and recycle?
I don't own a car. I don't have a driver's license but I don't think I'd own a car even if I did know how to drive. Day to day, I can get where I need to go on foot. Beyond that, there are buses, trains, cabs and nice people who pick me up if I need to go somewhere far away. I'm also saving thousands of dollars a year, so bonus there.
I've been switching to Method products, they're biodegradable and animal friendly. And cute packaging! The other perk to this is that I can clean my bathroom and kitchen without nearly passing out from fumes. All of their products do as good a job as their more toxic counterparts, if not better, and they smell really great.
I try not to use more electricity and water than I need to. One thing that really irks me is that I have to run the hot water for 30 - 45 minutes before it's hot enough to take a shower, but I just can't take ice cold showers everyday.
One really smart thing is to buy the biggest possible containers of products you use often. I have half gallon bottles of my shampoo and conditioner (both of which are vegan!) and big bottles of lotion, facial cleanser, body washes, etc. I do this with products that I know I'll use long term, so I'm not buying packaging over and over.
One thing I really, really need to do is buy reusable shopping bags. I have a whole cabinet of plastic grocery bags and it's just bursting. I re-use them in trash cans but I can't keep up! I'm looking these or these. I guess they don't have to be super stylish but you know me. This is really cute!
Have you ever purchased something from an infomercial?
Submitted by Colleen.
Heh! Figures my QotD is about shopping!
I've never bought anything directly from an infomercial but I do use Bare Escentuals cosmetics. If you've ever been up at 3 am watching TV, you've seen that infomercial. It runs over and over and over. I've also been seriously tempted by that Magic Bullet blender but I haven't given in yet!
What are the 10 most memorable music performances you've seen? (Remember, "memorable" may not be good.)
Submitted by Bill.
Ok, let's see if I can remember!
U2 - Elevation tour
Andrew and I waited in line for something like 13 hours. By the end of it, we were exhausted, dehydrated, and starving and I was emotionally and physically drained. My sunburn was so bad that I ended up with blisters all over my face and I couldn't move my arms. Was it worth it? Well, after being a U2 fan since I was 13 and magically finding myself in the front row, center with about 20 billion people behind me, I'd have to say that YES it was worth it. That was easily one of the very happiest days of my entire life and I have Andrew to thank for it. No one else in the world would do that with me! I've seen U2 five or six other times, mostly on that tour.
Madonna - Reinvention tour
This is also memorable because I was very close, in the dance pit that was basically inside the stage. You can read more about that here if you're so inclined. I've seen Madonna three other times.
Tori Amos - Uh like, ten times?
I've seen Tori several times but believe me, there are people who make a career out of following her around. The furthest I've ever traveled was Denver, which I remember more for spending time with my insane friends than for the show itself. I did win front row tickets and backstage passes for one show in Minneapolis, where we did pictures and she signed my vinyl copy of "Y Kant Tori Read." I asked her to play my favorite song (Sister Janet) at the next show in Chicago and she did! Woo. Sadly, I'm over Tori now. Sorry, Tori.
Sleater-Kinney - My first (and last) S-K show in 2005
You can read about that here. That was one of the best shows I have seen EVER.
Imogen Heap - Madison, October 2005
Andrew and I (seeing a trend here? heh) drove up to Madison to see Imogen play on that MySpace tour. It ended up being in this bar that's about the size of my living room and we were basically sitting right in her face. This was shortly after a friend of mine passed and I was sick the whole damn day but I'm glad we went. We stopped into the bar earlier in the afternoon to snoop and eat lunch and she was in there sound checking. It was WEIRD. But good weird.
I'd also include in the list the times I saw the Gossip, PJ Harvey, Rilo Kiley, Cibo Matto, Marilyn Manson (I was like, 19 and went with my sister heh!), the Beastie Boys (I think I was 18?), my first show when I was 15 (Twisted Christmas, this dorky festival show here in Chicago that I won tickets to), Silverchair (the second show I went to ever) and ... I know I'm forgetting something important.
