Random Mumblings

Copied from PicaboMama over at Heathen Family Revival (best blog name ever), here's a tantrum-free post.

1. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?
Arabis, my Evil Minion and beloved goof-ball.

2. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
The 30th Annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair!

3. Who was the last person you called?
Mojo

4. What were you doing at 12am last night?
Watching mindless television while trying to finish a knitting commission.

5. What did you fear was going to get you as a child?
Infinity. I had serious issues with the concept of infinity. I used to fall down the rabbit hole of thought and lose myself in pondering exactly what it meant, which I couldn't (and still can't, if I let myself really think about it) fathom. Infinity was my monster under the carpet, the thing that lurked in the corners and in the closet at night. MC Escher drawings were a fascination and a nightmare all at once.

Yes. I was an odd child. Next question?

6. When did you last see your mom?
Tuesday night.

7. What are you wearing right now?
A pair of cropped sweat pants and a tank top. I'm shivering. It's cold in here.

8. Where is your favorite place to be?
In the ocean. Or barring that, at the very least on the coast.

9. Where is your least favorite place to be?
I've got to go with Kelly on this one: anywhere I don't have an easy exit, for example: uncomfortable social obligations and family weddings.

10. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
London. Or to take Arabis and visit my dad for an extended period.

11. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years?
Where the wind takes me.

12. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?
This sounds pathetic as hell, but right now I can't remember. It's been a glum week. I'll hazard that watching an old episode of "The Graham Norton Show" on the DVR last night elic

13. What cities/towns/villages have you lived in?
San Francisco (born at St. Francis Hospital on the feast day of...you guessed it....Saint Francis)
Corte Madera, CA
Oakland, CA
Kittery, ME
London, England (specifically Hounslow and West Hampstead)

14. Are you a social person?
Pre-motherhood, I would say no, which surprises many people. I'm an introvert. Really.

Post-motherhood has found me isolated and craving the company of anyone over the age of three. And fruity rum drinks. That is another craving given me by motherhood.

15. What do you like about winter?
Rain. Fog. The Dickens Fair (see above).


Round Two -
Unconscious Mutterings:

I say … and you think … ?

Coverage - ground
Cynical - heh
Gust - wind
Improvised - my forte
V - sod off, ya tosser
Guests - ohmygodIhavetocleanthefreakinghouse!!!!!!!!!
Brutal - my brainmeats
Grant - bestow
Pull - push
streaming- consciousness

In Lieu of a Real Post - MEME!

Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

The Year in Review

I've grown awfully fond of Boogiemum. So much so that I broke my self-imposed cardinal rule and posted a meme in her honor.

And I adore Wannabe Hippie. She did a meme too. So here I am...hopping on the lemming train.

Only it'll be a little truncated since this blog has been in existence for less than a year. The idea is that you post the first sentence from the first post of each month. Click on the month link to read the full entry.

May: I will post in this forum at some point.

June: Bit is obsessed with her own reflection.

July: Post coming soon with lots of photos.

August: We got one of our windows shot out yesterday.

September: I know I've not done a proper update in quite a while, but things have been proceeding at a whirlwind pace and to be perfectly honest, I know of no way to comfortably share with the world the poo-flinging currently going on in my personal monkey hut.

October: On Sunday, Arabis, Mojo and I met my friend Lisa, her husband Evan and their fabulous son Blue for an afternoon of fun at Children's Fairyland in Oakland.

November: Okay.

December: I feel the need to shout out to the world that I live still.

Not terribly exciting, is it? But it is a good reminder that a catchy opening line will do wonders.

Monkey Boi returns to Ohio tomorrow and then things will settle back to normal and I can regale you with holiday photos and tales of joy and mirth...or mayhem and murder. No debauchery. It wasn't that kind of Christmas, not with the two kids around. But we survived, despite my innate dislike of this time of year and the surly countenance that accompanies it.

I do hope everyone had a lovely and safe New Year's and that this upcoming year brings much joy and peace to all of us. This new year is one of transformation, and I am not sorry in any way to see the ass end of 2006 out the door.

Another Rule Bites the Dust

I've long held an unspoken rule that this space would be meme free, however with the approach of the holidays I felt an exception could be made for this sweet little piece of self-aggrandizement. From the ever-charming Boogiemum.


1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?

Eggnog, please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?

Presents wrapped by me. Santa doesn't do squat. I mainly bake for everyone anyway. This year this a lot of knitting being done as well.

3. Colored lights or white?

None for a long time. I like strings of one coloured light, though. May do something this year.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Never. I have a cat of very little brain who will eat anything green.

5. When do you put your decorations up?

Haven't decorated for years. That's going to have to change now that I have spawned. The Evil Dwarf will be expecting it.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

Lamb. (We're Armenian. It's what we do. Although we did upset my grandmother in years past by teasing her about eating the lamb of god at Christmas {the lord is very tasty with pilaf}. She was not amused.)

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?

Lying on my back under the baby grand piano at my grandmother's house while my mother played Chopin. Also going down to Union Square, San Francisco, with my grandmother to look at the holiday windows in all the big department stores. We'd do that every year.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

Santa was never a big deal. I think I always knew. There was a different one at Emporium every year we went to have photos taken, so that was a dead giveaway.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

We open all our presents on Christmas Eve. And then have a second Christmas gathering (sans gifts) on Armenian Orthodox Christmas (6 January)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?

I haven't had a tree in years. It's the cats, see. Again, we'll have to change this soon, what with the Sprog and all.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?

Love it.

12. Can you ice skate?

Yep.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift as a kid?

A six foot tall, styrofoam, assemble-it-yourself tyrannosaurus rex skeleton from my Uncle Ben. I *LOVED* that thing. Eventually the pieces disintegrated.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Family. It was really horrid for a while there, but as time passes and people as well, it's getting nice again.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Bourma, khadayiff and kurabia (Armenian, remember?) . Also, my mother's peach pie rocks!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Dickens Fair.

17. What tops your tree?

No tree.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?

Giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Carol of the Bells. Followed closely by The Holly and the Ivy and The Wassail Song (I love the pagan symbolism and origins of these carols).

20. Candy canes?

Okay.