Meme for a Thursday morning

As seen everywhere, here's the “7 Random and/or Weird Things About Me” meme:

1. I built toad cities in my sandpile when I was a child. The toads were less than amused.

2. I grew up thinking it was perfectly normal to mix Swedish phrases into everyday speech.

3. I saw a UFO when I was about ten years old.

4. I have hyperextensible thumbs, both of them green. ;-)

5. I once turned down a chance to study in France for a year, when I was not quite seventeen. No, really - I used to be an idiot. But I got better.

6. I don't like roller coasters. In fact, the only amusement park "rides" I really like are water slides.

7. I wanted to go into space from about the age of three. Not surprisingly, this coincides with my father introducing me to Star Trek.

Share your own list in comments if you feel inspired. :-)

Random Meme

Today's meme, courtesy of a friend on LJ. You're supposed to go to Wikipedia and enter your birth date (month/day) and then pick 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday that occurred on the day of your birthday.

Here's mine: August 13th

Events:
3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation, the start of the Maya calendar.
1553 - Michael Servetus is arrested by John Calvin in Geneva as a heretic.
1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain begins - the Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.

Births;
1899 - Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (d. 1980)
1935 - Mudcat Grant, American baseball player

Holiday:
Roman festivals - Vertumnalia in honor of Vertumnus and Diana, on the Aventine hill.

I'm not so sure it's that accurate a measure, but....

Here are my responses to the Class questionnaire that's been going around:

Father went to college (for years and years, part time at night, while working days...)
Father finished college   (when he was in his 50's and I was in college myself)
Mother went to college
Mother finished college 
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (my great grand uncle was a physician in Sweden in the late 19th/early 20th century, before he came to the United States)
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers  (probably the same as some of them. Not higher than any of them.)
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (piano - 6 mos., art - 6 mos., voice - 2yrs, paid for by my grandparents)
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels (Sometimes. We didn't go on many vacations, though. I think I remember three that involved hotels or motels.)
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 (Believe it or not, no. Even though I was an only child, I got hand-me-downs from a couple of neighbor families with kids just a bit bigger than me. And I was happy to have them, because they were good clothes.)
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child (My mother sketched and painted, and my parents also bought a couple of paintings at "starving artist" sales.)
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home 
You had your own room as a child (Well, I'm an only child, and my parents did own a whole house)
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (Mom and I accompanied Dad on a business trip to California when I was 14, and took a loan on an insurance policy to be able to do so)
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up (Museums, anyway)
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (I only knew it was expensive, but nothing more specific than that)

(This exercise comes from here.)

Another meme, because I'm fresh out of anything else right now

1. You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas station:
I do? Okay, probably Sun Chips and iced tea.

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
A dolphin or an otter (do otters count?).

3. Last book you read?
As in, most recently finished physical book? God's Dice by S. Andrew Swann (fantasy novel with local Cleveland color, by a local Cleveland writer)

4. Describe the last time you were injured?
About a week and a half ago, falling on ice and breaking my ankle. Ouchie.

5. Of all your friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?
Whichever one is most likely to be clever about getting out of wells.

6. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?
It depends on where we are on the sports-season calendar. Right now it's the Buffalo Sabres logo. Which is interesting, given my current love-hate relationship with ice.

7. If you could only use one form of transportation what would it be?
Local or long distance? Because my answer will be different depending on the answer to that question.

8. Most recent movie you have watched in the theatre?
A Scanner Darkly, I think. I don't go to the movies very often.

9. Name an actor/actress/singer you have the hots for:
Meh. I really don't pay much attention to the Hollywood set when it comes to getting the hots for people. Musicians are more my style.

10. What's your favorite kind of cake?
Chocolate

11. Look to your left, what do you see?
My bookshelves.

12. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Depends on the shoes. For lace-up sneakers, usually not. For lace-up boots, definitely. Most of the rest of my shoes don't lace up anyway.

13. Favorite toy as a child?
Do art supplies count? If not, then probably my miniature dolls.

14. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?
It wouldn't surprise me.

15. Do you like running long distances?
I've never been able to do that, unfortunately. I wish I could.

15. Have you ever eaten snow?
From birth to the age of 23 I lived in ski country in Western New York. What do you think? (But never the yellow kind!)

16. What color are the sheets on your bed?
Pastel blue, at the moment. The other ones are pastel yellow.

17. What is the first television theme song that pops in your head?
The theme to Red Green.

18. Do people consider you smart?
Often, yes.

19. How many piercings do you have?
Double-pierced ears.

20. What is your favorite salad dressing?
Ranch or bleu cheese.

Random Memage

I rarely do memes, but let's face it: I've been running on mental fumes lately, which means that I haven't been posting much. Since I don't want to just leave this space blank for the duration, here's a meme I got from a friend of mine. Enjoy. Or not.

1. My ex: Husband? Don't have one. Significant Other? Which one?
2. I talk: A lot. Some of it even makes sense.
3. I love: When a plan comes together.
4. I have: Lots of ideas.
5. I've lost: Probably a few of my marbles. Life will do that sometimes.
6. I hate it when: I screw up.
7. Marriage: Takes work, but is worth it. Also, is in my plans for 2008.
8. Somewhere, someone is thinking: Why won't people use their turn signals?
9. I'll always be: Trying.
10. I have a crush on: Rik Emmett or Jamie Fraser, depending on whether you were expecting me to pick a real or a fictitious person.
11. The last time I truly cried was: Out of frustration.
12. My cell phone is: Silver, with butterfly stickers.
13. When I wake up in the morning I: Make coffee, so that I can be at least somewhat functional and coherent.
14. Before I go to sleep at night I: Read, usually.
15. Right now I am thinking about: This meme.
16. Babies: Are adorable.
17. I get on Myspace: Only by accident these days.
18. Today I: Have more things I need to do than I have hours/energy to do them.
19. Tonight I will: Hopefully sleep MUCH better than I did last night.
20. Tomorrow I will: Win the lottery, I hope.
21. I really want to: Win the lottery. (Do you sense a pattern here?)
22. The person I love most is: D.