Jumping off the bridge...

Just because it seems as though all the blogs I read are doing it, here's a meme...


1. What’s your middle name?
Ann – my mother’s middle name (and the name she went by), and my maternal grandmother’s name, who I was named after.

2. What’s your favorite magazine?
I have subscriptions to Being A Broad and the Canadian Museum Studies Association magazine, but don’t actually read either as often as I would like to…

3. What are you wearing right now?
My pjs – a pair of U’s boxers and a ‘I am Canadian’ Molson beer t-shirt.

4. What color are your bed sheets?
Futon covers are pale green, sheet is white. But I also have pale blue and bright orange… none matching…

5. Who was your third grade teacher?
Grade three? Umm… Grade 4 was Mrs. Kay, grade 5 was Ms. Bender… but no recollection of any names before that.

6. What is the weather like right now?
LOVELY! Today was warm and sunny with a nice breeze, right now it is chilly enough that I’m going to want a blanket but not too cold.

7. Do you know how to ski?
In theory? Yes. In practice… not so much. I took skiing lessons in high school with a friend. They were supposed to be beginner lessons but everybody else but me turned out to not actually be beginners and so our teacher jumped ahead and took us on harder hills when all I wanted was to stay on the bunny hill.

8. What was the last thing you drank?
Green apple chuhai!

9. Dream vacation?
Lots of them! Easter Island, Macchu Picchu, Thailand, Italy, France, Mexico, go back to India…

10. Favorite article of clothing?
ummm??

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking?
Baking. Am looking VERY forward to moving to a place with enough kitchen space for an oven!

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders?
Above.

13. What drink do you order when out?
That depends on where! If it’s a coffee type place then a caramel latte with non-fat milk. If a drinking type place then ume-shu and soda. Last week a friend took me to a vinegar restaurant and I had mango vinegar soda – wow it was AMAZING! So that is the drink I’d most like to order next time I’m out.

14. What book are you reading?
A study guide/practice book for the JLPT exam… terribly exciting!

15. What did you dream about last night?
Ummmm… Don’t remember! It wasn’t the dream I had a couple of times last week, however, the one where I dreamed U dumped me and went off into the sunset!

16. What was the last movie you went to?
The new Ghibli movie based on ‘The Borrowers,” a book (or rather a series of books) that I LOVED as a child. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and was quite impressed by how much they “got right” despite everything they changed!

17. Any injuries at the moment?
None besides self-inflicted stomach issues… (see #48 about allergies – I love okonomiyaki, my stomach, on the other hand, is not so happy about okonomiyaki sauce)

18. What color is your bathroom?
White.

19. What’s the state of your laundry right now?
One half-dry load is on the line outside and another load (*cough* or two *cough*) of dry is on the sofa awaiting to be folded and put away.

20. Do you take vitamins?
Not now.

21. Where do you love to shop?
Stationary stores make me very happy. Book stores make my hands itch… in a good way! Craft stores too! As for clothing stores… in Japan I admit to being a Uniqlo-er if for no other reason than the stuff actually fits (or at least the tops do… I have enough trouble finding pants long enough for me in Canada, there is no way I’m going to find anything here!)

22. How often do you buy groceries?
Pretty much every other day I pick up something, especially since my local grocery store stopped carrying 1L containers of non-fat milk and I am stuck buying the half-litre packs that hold just about enough for two days worth of lattes.

23. Do you have a pet/pets?
No

24. If you are married, when is your next anniversary?
N/A

25. How do you take your coffee and/or tea?
Milk and sugar – although if its coffee I prefer caramel syrup to sugar. If its herbal tea then no milk and honey instead of sugar.

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop?
Dell laptop as my “desktop” and an itty bitty Vaio-p that I LOVE!!

27. Favorite month of the year?
Probably October – Thanksgiving (TURKEY!), the beginning of fall...

28. Do you have a hobby?
Knitting! Kayaking (when I have access to my kayak, which is currently hanging in my father’s garage)

29. What salad dressing do you prefer?
I’m going to go with what seems to be a popular favourite and say balsamic vinaigrette.

30. Live or fake Christmas tree?
Live, although the fake tree U and I decorated last year was pretty cute.

31. Did you walk or take a bus to school?
I walked for the first five years, then two years of getting driven in the AM and busing home, then half a year of bright yellow school bus (with a transfer to a second bus to go to the middle school), then a year and a half of public transit bus, then two years of walking, and finally a year of being driven in the AM and busing it home combined with the occasional drive myself once I got my license. (phew! yes, I moved and changed schools A LOT growing up)

32. Do you have any phobias?
Non food-related ones? (see #48 re allergies)

33. What’s your favorite snack food?
Sweet or savoury? Sweet I’d have to go with chocolate, savoury would probably be cheese flavoured nachos… or the sour cream and onion ripple chips they used to sell when I was a kid…

34. When do you take your shower/bath?
In the morning when I wake up.

35. What time did you get up this morning?
9:30

36. What’s your favorite animal?
Every single person who has ever seen my apartment can answer that question… PENGUINS!

37. Have you ever broken a bone?
Nope. I’m quite amazed, actually. I am a klutz and very good at giving myself huge purple bruises, but (KNOCK WOOD) nothing broken yet!

38. Do you wear makeup?
Definitely to work, and yes for just about everything else, although increasingly not on weekends.

39. Do you speak any foreign languages?
Define “foreign” language! I live in Japan so that would make Japanese not really a “foreign” language, right? Canada is officially bilingual so neither French nor English are “foreign.” And I’ve forgotten just about all the German I ever learned…

40. Have you ever played a sport?
Played soccer through elementary school, one season of softball (that I DESPISED)

41. Your last UPS package contained …
After a horribly bad experience with UPS I prefer not to use them… shudder! But, my last parcel was from the Girl Scout Centre in Mexico – they were kind enough to send us a uniform for us to use as a display at the upcoming GS event!

42. What’s on your desktop?
Who, not what. Trevor Linden (SWOON!)

43. What is your home page?
CBC

44. Extrovert or introvert?
Definitely an extrovert when I know the people I’m with. When I don’t? Not so much!

45. Favorite board game?
Haven’t played a board game in far too long! When I was little I LOVED Sleeping Grump – a great collaborative board game.

46. What class did you like best in high school? In college?
In high school I was a math nerd – I was one of the few students who took all of the available math classes and I loved it. In undergrad my favourite classes were my Japanese history classes.

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day?
Hopefully try and tick a few more things off my to do list - especially using the Wii Fit more regularly.

48. Do you have allergies?
Tomatoes (and, to some extent peppers, eggplant, and lately my stomach seems to be unhappy with large amounts of garlic… sigh) Oh, and sulfa drugs. (thankfully the latter are less likely to be hiding in a bowl of curry or under a leaf of lettuce)

49. Are your nails painted?
Nope. One of the women at my hairdresser’s is always trying to convince me to get them done and I can’t be bothered. I did for a while but having to keep them short to help with the hands-on curatorial class at school put an end to that.

50. Where are you right now?
Ummmmm, sitting in front of the computer?!