Yet another questionnaire

Yes, I do have better things to be doing on a nice lazy Saturday afternoon at home with my family, but this questionnaire looked fun :>

1. First Name: Heather. (Imagine that.)

2. Were you named after anyone? No; the story I was told was that I was "as pretty as a flower when I was a baby". Actually, I told that story to all the parents at some sort of talk about your name presentation in first grade. (My favorites from my school friends were Gwendolyn, who was so named because G is the seventh letter of the alphabet and she was the seventh child; and Nute, who was named after Knute Rockne, but they spelled it Nute so kids wouldn't call him kuh-nute.)

3. Do you wish on stars? I get performance anxiety when I see a falling star, and can't think of a wish until it's gone ;>

4. When did you last cry? I remember bawling a little over something relatively recently, but I don't remember what or when.

5. Do you like your handwriting? Not really, but my mom says it's neat-looking.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Hrm...I dunno, I kind of like it all. I get those little single-serving packs from Land O'Frost and Carl Buddig.

7. What is your birth date? May 30, 1978. Gemini, Year of the Horse. Make of that what you will.

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? I don't know, I'm not really embarrassed by my musical tastes. I grew up with brothers who made fun of pretty much anything I listened to, so I basically decided that I like what I like, period, the end.

9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? I'm not sure. I like to think that I would be able to deal with myself, but I can be something of a smart-aleck, and I have trouble not taking things seriously, so there could be some strife there. It'd be a learning experience, though!

Umm...where's #10?

11. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? I don't remember ever swearing not to tell anything. I have been told not to tell people stuff, and I make an effort to follow those wishes, but ultimately I find secrets annoying. If it's something that I really shouldn't say to someone, I'd rather you just not tell me, either. I personally will sometimes say "Don't tell so-and-so," but in those cases it's more of a "so-and-so might get mad at me if you say something to them about this, but I can live with it if you tell them anyway". I don't think I've ever explained it that way to anyone, though, so hopefully that's not a horrible surprise to my friends ;>

So, in other words, I can't promise that I won't tell a secret. This is not because I lack respect for people, but because I lack respect for my own memory. Having to keep secrets takes a lot of time and effort. "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." I prefer to just tell the truth all the time and not worry about deceptions. In a pinch, if I'm not sure if I am allowed to say something about a certain issue, I will just not say anything.

12. Do looks matter? Yes, but so do other things.

13. How do you release anger? Blogging, or chatting, or talking with people. Doing something physical also helps, like walking around or biking.

14. Where is your second home? Japan!

15. Do you trust others easily? I pretty much will trust people until they give me a reason not to, but this isn't total trust. For example, I would not trust someone I just met to house-sit for me.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I had a little stuffed bear named Brownie who I took everywhere when I was little. One day I took him to dance class and lost him :(

17. What class in high school do you think was the most useless? At the time, I thought P.E. was useless. We only had it freshman year, though, and now I wish we'd had it longer, because I could have used a better foundation in physical fitness. Honestly, what I really think was useless about my high school experience was the "blocks" system. We broke our year up into two semesters, four blocks each. This was technically supposed to add a class to our roster, but since AP classes had to last the full year (as required by some law or education rule or something), and since I took a lot of AP classes, I actually had a lot fewer classes than I could have otherwise--each AP class ate up two blocks. Also lasting all year were electives like band and chorus. So, you see, the block system was absolutely worthless.

I'm pretty content with all the classes I took in high school, otherwise. I just wish I could have taken more.

18. Do you have a journal? I used to keep private diaries, but I got out of the habit of it somewhere during my teens. Since starting this online journal, I've written quite a bit about myself and my life, and I'm really happy to have it. I think the interactive nature of the journal, plus the fact that anyone anywhere can read it, makes it more appealing to write in.

19. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Sometimes.

20. Your nicknames? He-chan (people in Japan would get a kick out of this), Hea Hea

21. Would you bungee jump? Nah. It's that whole "connected to the ground" thing.

22. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not usually, no.

23. Do you think that you are strong? Yeah. I'm built Ford tough.

24. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate chip cookie dough.

25. Shoe Size? Why does every questionnaire include this question? It's pretty boring. I'll just say 8 this time.

26. What is your favorite lipstick red/pink? I don't wear lipstick, but I'm pretty sure that red wouldn't flatter my complexion, since I'm so pale. You never know though. (I certainly don't.)

27. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My tendency to be an asshat. (In other words, I think I'm being clever, and I let myself be a bit too much of a smart-aleck, and it hurts people, or could potentially hurt them.)

28. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Grey pants (the ones that didn't fit not so long ago, and are now baggy), and black clogs.

29. What are you listening to right now? My mom, typing. She's always got business work to do.

30. Last thing you ate? A cinnamon roll my mom made. She used Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough instead of making them from scratch this time, but they were good. They were also pretty small, so it didn't ruin my diet.

31. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I'd like to say Burnt Sienna, because that is the coolest color ever, but I don't know that I'm really a Burnt Sienna type. Scanning a nice handy list of Crayola's colors, I pick: Midnight Blue. (Hmm...am I really cool enough to be Midnight Blue? Maybe I'm more of a Periwinkle...)

32. What is the weather like right now? Clear sky, warm, with a light breeze.

33. Last person you talked to on the phone? Audra, to set up when we're getting together next week. (Probably Wednesday.)

34. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? It depends on what side of them I see first! If I'm seeing them from a distance, then I notice their build first. If I'm seeing them up close from the front, then I notice how their face looks. From the back up close, it's build again. I don't really focus on butts and legs or anything like that; mainly I'm looking for the entire package, plus whether or not I like their facial features.

If it's online, the first thing I notice is their writing style. Online, I consider capitalization and punctuation to be part of someone's style. So, for example, someone like AJ, who insists on using capital letters and periods even in regular chat, gets a mild "anal/archaic" connotation from me. ;> I honestly have no problem with all lowercase (like Hai) or leaving periods off (like me), and stringing a huge bunch of phrases together (separated only by carriage returns) doesn't bother me either. I think chatting is a different form of communication than writing--it's really closer to speaking, so it isn't bound by rules of prescriptive grammar.

However, I am pretty judgmental when it comes to things like blog posts, because those are more akin to essays or short stories than they are to speech, and therefore must follow standard rules of style. So if I come across a poorly-edited blog post, my opinion of the person is altered. I think they are either lazy or unintelligent ;>

I actually have become strongly attracted to people based solely on their writing.

35. Do you like the person who sent this to you? No, I hate her! ;>

36. Favorite Drink? Water. But not Dasani. That shit is nasty! (I am not, however, too good for tap water. I drink tap water all the time. This Dasani thing, it shocked me. I don't know what they add to it, but it leaves my mouth totally dry. That's totally not the point of water!)

37. Favorite Sport? Biking.

38. Hair Color? Blond.

39. Eye Color? Blue.

40. Do you wear contacts? Not anymore. My contacts are really old, and they dry out quickly, and they're a bother anyway, so I don't mess with them now. However, my glasses got a chip in them recently, so I will have to go to the eye doctor somewhat soonish. If they have that deal where you can buy one pair get one pair free, I'll have to decide if I want another pair of glasses, or if I want to get more contacts...

41. Favorite Food? Another repeat question...just go look at the other quiz ;P

42. Last Movie You Watched? Star Wars. I watched it the other day. :D

43. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? I don't like scary movies. But I don't necessarily need a happy ending. :P

44. Summer or winter? They both have their good points. I'll keep them both, if you don't mind.

45. Hugs or Kisses? Hugs. I have always loved being held.

46. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Anything chocolate, really. (But no freaking coffee flavor; I hate coffee.)

47. Living Arrangement? A rather nice apartment, where I live with my husband. No pets or anything. We have a primo location in town, right near a very active shopping center and lots of restaurants, but I'd like to be closer to downtown, due to all the cool architecture and the beautiful riverfront area, and North Augusta, since it seems like all my friends either live or want to live there.

48. What Books Are You Reading? The One Tree (Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, book 2). I have a bookmark in Master and Commander, but I haven't picked it up in months. It's the kind of book whose writing style you have to get used to before you can read it rapidly, which is the way I like to read. (I never could get used to Moby Dick. I managed to read it in a day, but it gave me the biggest migraine in the world.)

49. What's On Your Mouse Pad? Yoda. But I don't use the mouse pad anymore because I have my mouse down on my keyboard tray.

50. What did you watch on TV last night? Mom and I watched one of her tapes! I love watching TV with Mom. We watched 7th Heaven, Smallville, and Alias :D

51. Favorite Smells? Sean's cologne/aftershave (I'm totally smitten by it), freshly cut grass (I know, how cliche...but it's such a great smell), babies

52. Stones or Beatles? The Stones, definitely...for some reason, I just don't like the Beatles. I do like Paul McCartney, though.

53. Do you believe in Evolution or Creation? I believe that we are learning as much as we can about where we came from, and that the theory of evolution is the best thing we have to explain it so far. I do not, however, think we are anywhere near having all the answers.

54. What's the furthest you've been from home? Japan.

And now, to go eat something, and listen to my brothers' band practice :D