The Person Below Me number 62 -- the number Freud feared (also the product of an even and an odd pri

Roland left us with:

TPBM has read or seen a play about at
least one of these legendary charcters:

Oedipus, Ajax, Achilles, Medusa, Medea,

Antigone, Electra, Portia*, or El Cid.

*In Shakespeare alone, there are two Portias:
A Roman and a Venetian.

Here.

I remember we read Antigone in high school. And I always wanted to play Portia (the Venetian one).

The person below me thinks of Electra in the context of comic books. (Note: Her name is spelled differently in the comic books)

Nope. (I saw a movie called 'Moaning Becomes Electra', but I'd be surprised if all of you saw it, too. Except for readafew, who is a total perv as you all know.)

TPBM collects comics. (I do, love them.)

I don't but R does. I bought him a whole bunch last Christmas.

TPBM bakes (I'm planning on making a 3-tier cake this week just for the heck of it.).

Not as often as I used to, since I no longer have my own kitchen. However, right now there is a cake in the oven for my roommate's birthday.

TPBM loves birthdays.

Can't say that I do. I don't mind the getting older bit, but the closest I'll ever get to divulging it is to acknowledge that at some point during the year I became/become 59.

TPBM got some rain today.

Just a little. Better than the torrential down-pour and wind storm of the last couple of days. Fall has completely arrived.

TPBM is already thinking about winterizing their house.

//SomeGuy, was that "Mourning Becomes Electra," or did you have something else in mind?//

Only the moment I realized I have my own house and can decorate it any way I want.

TPBM also makes sure the first thing they do when a new thread starts is reply just so it can be in your post option.

Yup. Especially this one, because the threads tend to change when I'm not paying attention and I'll suddenly find that the new one is 15, 20 posts in before I see it!

TPBM is supposed to be sleeping but can't due to a combination of bad dreams and just-not-tired-ness (or is that just me?)

Apparently, it's just you, but don't let that worry you. I'm about to hit the sack.

TPBM can help SRR get sleepy.

As it is 5 AM here, I think she's either sleeping or has given up and is reading in the quiet. Sometimes, when your children are small, I think you get to the point of being too tired to sleep. I remember it well, knowing that morning and all that that entailed was roaring toward me and unable to shut my mind off.

TPBM will share a high point in their life with us.

Finding out about and joining LT 4 years ago this coming Saturday.

TPBM will also share a high point in their life with us.

My son's birth 17 years ago yesterday. and he is a reader and LT member.

TPBM will continue the trend with their own high point.

Assisting at the births of grandchildren.

TPBM loves to get their hands dirty.

To some degree. Though I'd rather get them sticky with lanolin.

The person below me is allergic to lanolin.

Probably not; can't say I recall ever being exposed to the stuff.

TPBM has a method to the shelving of the books in his/her domicile.

Non-fiction in the living room (except for the tattered poetry), SF & F and mysteries by author in the office with the education books, and all other fiction in the bedroom on various shelves and a couple of boxes. I do not have a book hoarding problem. really

TPBM hoards something else

Not admitting anything.

TPBM has drawers that will pass Mom's inspection.

I was never in the habit of showing my drawers to Mom. Or anyone else for that matter. Except my husband--and I don't think he's inspecting.

The person below me is persuasive (or persuadable).

I can be either, depending upon the situation and how much I want something.

TMBM has inspected someone else's drawers.

Er, I sometimes inspect a person's medicine cabinet and always their book shelves, although the latter can produce results that are counter intuitive. One of the smartest people I know has prolly 30 books on his shelves. He also lives around the corner from a lie-berry, but I think he just doesn't like reading. I asked him once what he does instead and he said he just sits at home and unwinds. (Not that he unwinds much, he has a pair of Dolce & Gabbana leather pants.)

//Boo- joke. Also, you said the human mind is a computer and it's been TEARING ME UP! The human mind:computer::horse:airplane.//
//RSN- you don't have a degree in communications, you're 'strongly positioned to lead in multiple fields'.//

TPBM, like me, has some kind of annoying bug.

Really? You've got a cold, too?

TPBM is exposed to so much irony, s/he has gotten at tetanus shot just to be on the safe side.

I have, but that tetanus shot I got a few months back was merely the decadal upkeep. Irony exposure is why I prefer t-shirts and jeans to anything that has to be pressed.

The person below me prefers things that need to be pressed to things that don't -- because they need to be pressed.

WHY would you do that?!

I mean, I don't mind ironing - as long as there's nothing better to do. I'm actually a very good ironer but people don't tend to give me their stuff to iron, because it'd take 3 months for them to get it back.

TPBM is glad it'll be October soon!

Yes.

The person below me will be glad when it's 2012 already.

The end of the world, albeit at the far end of the year, is a cheering prospect.

The person below me would prefer the world's going on for a long time yet.

I'll be content either way, though I have to admit to a certain curiosity and desire to watch the end of the world in person.
(But only if it doesn't hurt much)

TPBM can't stand the pain!

No, I can't. Fortunately, he's out stumping to be the Presidential candidate. I hope he stays out on the road a long, long time. Having him out of state increases the average IQ by at least a couple of points.

TPBM tends to carry several different-colored pens or markers around a lot.

Not unless I have my coloring book too.

TPBM has way too much to do and most of it is self-imposed.

//SomeGuy, I figured it was a joke or maybe you knew of a satire.
I didn't say the human brain could perform as well as a computer, but it still is a computer. Besides-- and you know this -- without a human brain to program and feed data, not to mention plugging it in and turning it on, a computer is just an expensive piece of junque. lol

Mr. House, I know another Texan or two who don't like the pain. One friend says he's a nincompoop.//

Not any more. I used to be like that. I thought the world would come to an end if my house wasn't spotless and if I didn't do the work of more than one person at my job. I surely missed a lot of fun that way.

TPBM has always been a slacker when it comes to cleaning house.

Yeah, my Mom had a magnet that said,"Boring women have immaculate homes." I feel compelled to add "or weekly maid service". But spotless has never been a goal of mine, as long as the kitchen is clean and you don't have to broad jump belongings I'm good with a little dust and clutter.

TPBM is appalled.

Why would I be appalled? I'm happy if the kitchen is clean and there's a path through the room. Only because I'm tired of cleaning it all by myself!

TPBM invents.

... as in: complains to ones self only? Usually. Occasionally, I outvent.

TPBM is even-tempered, and doesn't get bothered by too much of anything.

//Well, I had meant as in: to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance, but that's an... ahem inventive way of putting it...//

Au contraire. Many things get me bothered. Especially since a lot of them can happen over the course of any given day (especially when you live in the second most densely populated county in the U.S. and work in the first most densely populated county). That said, botheredness has a half life, and I'm all right at ignoring the small stuff till it goes away -- as long as things don't gang up on me.

The person below me wishes his/her/its county were more densely populated.

Goodness, no! It's just right the way it is. There are seven houses on my block. (That's all the way around a 1-square-mile block.) That's plenty. And our largest town has about 9000 people.

TPBM knows a good way to soothe a sore throat.

A good cup of tea*, sweetened with honey**.

The person below me has another good suggestion for SylviaC's problem.



--------
* I like a good darjeeling or oolong. There's also a blend/type/variety (I know Twinings makes it, and possibly others as well) called Lady Grey, which is, as you'd expect, a variation in the Earl's variety that's so easy to find.
** Ideally local honey you get from a greenmarket, not the kind that comes in a plastic bear.

Hot water, lemon juice and honey works - or gargling with salt water (not as tasty!).

TPBM has aching muscles due to unaccustomed exercise.

They are aching a bit, but I think it's due to the change in the weather. Brrrrrrr...cold front coming through and we're going to get our first real taste of fall weather.

TPBM likes kim chee.

I had it once, but I don't think it was the real thing because it didn't smell like Death farted. Whatever it was, I liked it, but I think I'd hate the real thing.

//Boo- Madam, you are egregiously, heinously, dare I say 'ostentatiously' wrong. The vastness of your wrongness dwarfs Leviathan. In fact, I am surprised that very size of your wrongness has not exerted a gravitational field of such force and magnitude that it hasn't imploded and become a black hole of error. Perhaps with time. The brain can compute, but to call it a computer or compare the two is as logical as calling the brain a daffodil. There is no need to thank me, knowing that I have shown you the error of your ways is sufficient reward.//

TPBM has painted a mural or has one in their house/apartment.

//37 SC- Soph's right, the best thing for it is to gargle with salt. I'd limber up with a shot of Jack Daniels first.//

//Where's at at?//

//Jack has come out with a Honey Whiskey. Good fer what ails ye.//

Well, I worked on a mural in 5th grade art class. It was on paper and when we finished it was displayed in the art hallway for a week.

I'll be helping my sister with a small mural on her bedroom wall next week.

TPBM has participated in a big community-wide Something.

//SomeGuy, you're full of it. And, I do not thank you. But you can still use me for an alibi.

SylviaC, The best remedy for a sore throat, rub in a menthol product, such as Mentholatum or Vicks. Rub in well from the bottom of your chin down to the end of your throat, and maybe just a little beyond. The first time a person told me to do that, I resisted because I don't like the smell, but it works.//

I was shown on a couple of teevee channels commenting on the development of an old drive in theater site in my neighborhood while I was attending a community meeting on the matter. We, the community, are working together to see that the development serves the community and does no harm.

The person below me is active in community issues.

Not so much community as club (I volunteer in the library) and my kid's school.

TPBM gets their 8 hours of beauty rest every night.

(Lady Grey is my secret tea vice.)
(Hot Toddy for sore throat, 'flu, or any excuse. Brandy, sugar, hot water, possibly lemon. As it's purely medicinal, even teetotallers can drink it)

You're funny.

... oh, you were serious? Nnnnope. Not even close, most nights, and it isn't even the kids keeping me up (most of the time). I've been an insomniac since middle school.

TPBM had breakfast for dinner recently.

Just this past week as it happens. I ate eggs and toast the night before my spouse had a medical procedure that required that he not eat anything. He isn't a big fan of either so he didn't feel deprived.

The person below me eats protein for breakfast regularly.

I would if I were awake enough to cook when I eat breakfast. As it is, most days the only protein in my breakfast is in my cereal or in the skim milk I pour on it.

The person below me has a favorite cereal and will tell us what it is.

Captain Crunch, but it tears the roof of my mouth up and always has.

//Boo- A-HA! It wasn't an alibi, it was a reference for a security clearance! Oh myyy, perhaps your memory files have been corrupted? Or could it be that you simply FORGOT! I rest my case. Ladies and gentleman of the jury (and the rest of you lot), the facts are before you, your course is clear. Let us elevate mankind above the machine, the human above the mundane gizmos we created to pass Trig in high school. Humans First! Then golden retrievers, then everything else, and THEN machines. Turn back, oh Boo, foment thy error plays.//

TPBM beat their swords into Northrop Grumman shares.

The only thing I know about Northrop Grummon is that they sponsor Peep and the Big Wide World, which my kids seem to like.

TPBM never ever ever watches TV. Ever.

//SomeGuy, yes, you sent me a message asking if you could use me as a reference, and I said that you could. Later on in this thread, quite a while ago, you needed an alibi, and I volunteered. So, there! Pffffft!. My cousin has been working at Northrop Grummon ever since he retired from the US Navy.//

Wrong! (#52, that is...) I watch about six hours of news (different channels, different viewpoints) on an almost daily basis.

TPBM collects something other than books.

Do magazines count? I've got a huge and disorganised stack of old Private Eyes, and I think I own every issue of Word magazine, but some may have got lost in my last house move.

TPBM hates moving out, but loves moving in.

Sophie, I think you've split that hair nicely. (corrected my typo 'spit') Yes, claiming new territories, making them mine and beautiful. That's the fun of it. Enjoying the vision of a new places potential and working to make it happen. Letting go of place, especially to some numbskull who cuts down the dogwoods and who paves the yard and collects junk - I mean JUNK - cars, and doesn't appreciate a color scheme....

okay, let's move away from that thought.

TPBM is toying with new colors.

I'm still thinking of painting my bedroom a metallic pewter. If it works, it would look great and it could work because the room is large and gets a lot of light. I'm afraid that it may wind up looking like a stage set for a production of Plan 9 From Outer Space or a kid's room, and feel like I'm inside a sandwich wrapper. Also, those metallic paints are a total pain in the tuchus.

//Boo?! You really agreed to provide both a security reference and an alibi? Oh Boo, I take great joy in helping a friend along the path to enlightenment. You proved my point, but I was the one who forgot. The brain is still not a computer and all is right with the world. Also, can you ask your cousin if they need a new '4th floor janitor'?. Don't forget! I'm so happy we've both agreed. Let's drop the matter and go on being friends.//

TPBM has a hangover.

No. Since I prefer caffeine to alcohol, I don't really get hangovers.

The person below me has a dog.

Two. Well, one belongs to my sister, but since we all live in the same house, we all share critter responsibility.

TPBM has a cat.

Not just 1, but 3. I chose none, they all chose me (darn strays) and 3 is my official limit. Especially when one of them left entrails from some unfortunate critter in my dining room yesterday.

None have come forth and admitted guilt yet. Tonight I take them one by one to the basement room with the single light bulb hanging on a frayed wire from the ceiling and grill them. Someone will spill the beans.

TPBM is much kinder to their pets.

I guess so. I certainly haven't gone so far as to grill the dog.

(Thanks to everyone who provided sore throat remedies. I went with ginger-lemon tea with honey. My throat is better now, and I've moved on to a messier but less painful stage of my cold.)

TPBM is singing in the rain.

I am neither singing nor in the rain. I just finished lunch and it's cloudy, but not wet, outside.

TPBM likes Singin' in the Rain.

I like parts of Singin' in the Rain - any of the parts that don't include Gene Kelly. Give me Fred Astaire any day of the week for peerless and classy dancing.

TPBM loves musicals.

I love some of them.

//SomeGuy, truce. I don't think my cousin is in charge of hiring custodial staff. lol He was in battleship design when he first started there about ten years ago. Don't know what he does, now. By the way, your pewter wall sounds fun. My hubby wants a room with red walls. I think that would be cool, but we'd have to buy all new furniture and can't afford that.

karenmarie -- Blasphemy!//

TPBM really likes Gene Kelly.

Well, I don't *dislike* him...

TPBM has a different musicals star.

//Oh, also, PSA: New username soon! Just so’s ya know :) (If ya care, that is.) Dunno when it'll take effect, but I submitted the request today. It'll be RandomActofMuse. I wanted to change it to something I like better, and I use this handle (or one similar) for other websites.//

oh definitely...much prefer Kelly over Astaire. Astaire had elegance, but Kelly had energy and sex appeal. And he danced with Jerry the Mouse...how can you top that?

TPBM rides a motorcycle.

Not anymore. Not since '75, actually - two years after the accident that broke my hip in five places and left my right leg paralyzed for several months. I rode a friend's bike up and down his street just once, just so I could say I didn't accept defeat. I have no desire to be so exposed anymore - and yet, I ride a bicycle, long distance, and commuted by bicycle - until I got hit by another car.

TPBM thinks I should have learned from the first incident.

In my imagination and in my dreams. In the sixties I had a Norton Atlas motorcycle, a marvelous machine but with all the reliability of an English motor vehicle. I dream now that I go on long rides on it, and it gets me home, to my amazement. In my imagination I drive a big BMW, but I can't decide which one.

The person below me drives a helicopter.

HA! I don't have space to park so much as a unicycle. So where would I keep a helicopter?

The person below me can ride a unicycle while juggling bowling pins.

(Steven Wright solved that problem decades ago. He leaves it running and tethered to the roof of his building.

Robert)

No I can't ride a unicycle, even if tethered to the roof, and certainly not while juggling bowling pins. And aren't there laws about leaving sleeping helicopters unattended?

The person below me is about to take a trip by train (and subways don't count.)

No, I've always wanted to take a long train ride. I have a cousin who rode one to Alaska and loved it.

TPBM recently took part in a protest.

Yes, but then my autonomous nervous system took over and I started breathing again. I was almost Smurf-like in complexion.

TPBM rants occasionally.

Oh, don't get me started. I'm on the local township zoning board and just discovered 2 of our supervisors are getting their insurance paid by the township to the tune of $43,000 a year for about 6 hours of work a month, plus their salary of $2,500 each. I'm currently reasearching how to get it changed.

TPBM has another rant.

Seen in the shops today; illuminated LED wine glasses. Presumably so you can find your drink when the lights go out. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a simper.

TPBM can recommend an infallible (non-pharmaceutical, SGiV) mood improver.

Edited to apologise to anyone who owns illuminated LED wine glasses.

Listen to Herman's Hermits singing 'I'm into something good'. It works for me, if only (very) temporarily :-(

Just back from Greece where the value of average take home pay is said to have dropped by 50%.

TPBM couldn't cope with that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxDh2sYQRpo
Listen with your eyes closed, the rhythm guitarist is NOT a happy boy.

Being as I'm the breadwinner, good pay and benefits, no.

TPBM is in the market for a new major appliance.

Welllll, my refrigerator is no longer humming to itself, it's sharing the song with the whole house. Does not bode well.

TPBM has turned on the heat already.

No, it's still in the 80s here. (ETA Correction, it's 50 and raining.)

//ps- simple, serve the poor. Or exercise. Either.

Yea! at's back!//

TPBM has something special planned for the weekend.

Well, I'm hoping for something special next weekend.

TPBM is in the mood for dancin'

Nope, somehow threw my knee out while at Vanderbilt, I'm doing real well just to walk from one end of the house to the other.

TPBM has taken dance lessons and will tell us why.

I took ballet lessons because the teacher needed guys and drafted me (I accepted because I wanted to try.) I sucked, but I could jump and lift girls.

TPBM takes/took piano lessons.

I took them when I was little, but I quit because my teacher scared me. She was this scary-looking old woman with flyaway grey hair who liked high-collared, long-sleeved shirts. She reminded me a little of the evil step-mother from Cinderella.

I don't know why my parents bothered with a piano teacher. My mother plays piano.

TPBM takes/took voice lessons.

Yes, as a teenager. I also have taken a private lesson and attended workshops as an adult to improve my voice. Helps when yelling across the school yard at the boys who are wrestling.

TPBM has a different way of dealing with wrestling boys.

Let them kill themselves. Or throw cold water on them.

TPBM would hate recess yard duty.

I do - twice a week.

TPBM is doing something out of the ordinary tonight.

I'm cooking. Usually, Mr. Exiled does that, but he's been out of town, and hasn't come home yet. I felt like soup, so a pot of vegetable soup is now simmering on the stove. Cornbread is planned to go with.

TPBM has made a dessert today.

No, today I made the entree (mostly-local-vegetables lasagne). I made the carrot cake a couple of days ago. I just realized I could have sent one over to the county fair.

TPBM entered a cake in the county fair.

Nope; don't think I've ever been to a county fair. But when I was going to school, my mum would make a cake for our Christmas fair, and she'd win every year. After several years of this, they made her cake the prize, to give other people a chance.

TPBM can tell me (it's mystified me for a while) why all over the world the entrée (entry) course is the starter or appetiser, while in the US, it's the main course (and it's HUGE!). It especially throws me when, on cooking shows, they say " This is not an entrée size plate; it's too small"

I think it's perhaps because sometime in the 18th Century, most people in the US were farmers or political deportees, they did away with an 'entree' and went straight for the main course. After a time, it was assumed that this was correct usage. Appetisers did not come back into popular use, among the middle class, until after the Second War, with the returning soldiers. I agree that portions in the US are huge. Hubby and I take this into account and thus have a meal out and at least one or two meals at home without having to cook.

TPBM is shy about asking for a 'doggie bag'.

No, I usually ask for a to-go box about halfway through dinner.

TPBM eats restaurant leftovers for the next day's lunch.

Sure do. In fact, today is left over chicken with cheddar/jack cheese and mushrooms from Friday's lunch out.

TPBM just turned their furnace on for the fall.

I turn the (electric heat) elements on for about five minutes every couple of months, just to burn off the dust that has settled on them.
It has been wonderfully cool here for the past couple of day - in the 60s and 70s at night, and we've shut off the AC and opened the windows - a pretty rare event in central Texas.

TPBM is good at bird identification.

Yes, I can almost always spot the bird lurking in any crowd. Damn birds.

TPBM is a reformed something.

The resounding silence would suggest the answer is NO! Just a bunch of reprobates here. That's why I feel so comfy.

TPBM will describe a piece of art situated in the room you are now in.

I haven't decorated this room yet, or put it together if you want the truth. The only "art" is a picture of my dad taken in the power house of the copper mine where he worked for 46 years. It is one of those old wide frame pictures of all the employees and all the big equipment needed to generate electricity to power the pumps to keep the underground mines from flooding. It is a very cool picture in my opinion and, even better, has my dad in it. (Best dad ever.)

The person below me will also describe something in the room you are in.

A framed painting done by my son in the first grade- Pencilled outlines of hearts filled in with watercolors. various abstract crayon and watercolor swirls and construction paper cutouts added as collage. Only a parent can love it, but I do.

TPBM has more conventional taste in decorating and will describe something they live with.

The artwork in this room is of a similar type. The most popular media are paper, foam stickies, and bendaroos.

TPBM collects a particular kind of art.

The aluminum foil that our Saturday morning breakfast burritos are wrapped in. One of the baristas at the coffee shop likes to draw and doodle, on the foil, so we're saving them in a scrap book for her. (Won't she be surprised!)

Let's keep this going - TPBM collects a particular kind of art.

I have an entire collection of Preschool Art in a box in my son's closet, which has every single shaving-cream snowman, paper-streamer jellyfish, and fingerpaint anything my son made in his two and a half years in preschool.

TPBM collects a particular kind of art, too.

I don't actually collect art, but I have two lovely photos of single flowers that my friend took and sent to me. They are in pretty frames.

TPBM has autographed photos of a famous person.

ETC Aak! Leaped. Nope, but I collect old photos of parades, parties, mugshots, and those photobooth triples from the 40s and 50s.

TPBM collects a certain kind of art.

Etchings.
Most of them are from a fellow I knew in New Jersey. A lot of them were published in hand-made books back in the early 80s. I think there were five hundred of them, and they sold for three hundred dollars each. He kept on pushing me to buy one, but it wasn't something I could afford. There is one in the Pierpont-Morgan Library in NYC. I've not been able to locate any others, although I still have the newspaper article about the book and all the people involved in creating it - from the paper to the thread for the binding - and I've tried to contact every one mentioned in the article. I got a reply to my first message to the binder - he sent me his phone number. I've called and written several times since then, but we never made contact again.

TPBM has actually participated in, or at least observed, the making of a book.

Yes, the writers' group I used to belong to in Manchester brought out a poetry anthology in the early 90s - I assisted with binding, but unfortunately wasn't around for the proofreading, so there were several typos. I growled at the rest of the committee about it for years afterwards ...!

TPBM will tell us what they're wearing.

Comfortable khaki pants and a deep blue wide-wale corduroy shirt and comfy leather shoes. The only jewelry is a pair of dangly earrings.

TPBM has interesting piercings or intentional scarification.

Well - I'm not sure how far ahead I intended to get the scars, but am quite content with both the one from the appendectomy and the ones from the gall bladder removal- but the surgeons controlled the placement and patterns. The ones from sitting on the floor heater grate when I was a baby are an interesting pattern, but certainly not intentional.

TPBM has recently experienced a sudden change in the weather.

Yes! It dropped about 10 degrees on Saturday, from our usual "Summer" highs of 97ish, and yesterday's high was 85. Today's high is 82 and when I went to take Kidlet to school this morning it was 66 degrees outside. So pretty!

TPBM is happy with their current weather.

Not today, (still remnants of rainy dreary weekend) but the rest of the week, and weekend are looking great. Highs in 60s and 70s and sunny, with lows in 40s at night. Perfect for changing the leaves to their brilliant fall colors.

TPBM likes the sound and smell of walking through autumn leaves.

Yeah, although I haven't experienced it much since I moved away from the Midwest more than 20 years ago.

What I really love is the smell of burning leaves, but that's been banned for so many years now, a whole generation or two doesn't know what I'm talking about.

TPBM also thinks fondly of something once common but now forbidden.

Eating fish and chips wrapped in newspaper*. They just don't taste the same these days ...

TPBM gets nostalgic.

ETA - *obviously the newspaper wrapping wasn't eaten along with the fish and chips.

Not anymore, but I have fond memories of when I did.

TPBM is an early-adopter.

No, I find myself playing catch-up all the time.

TPBM really is an early adopter.

Even my cat was past kittenhood.

TPBM waits until they work out the bugs.

Usually, I like to be sure the item really is going to work as advertised, then I buy the best I can afford and keep it until it is totally used up. I drove my first car for 13 years, sold it for cash money and drove the next one for nine years.

TPBM like to be on the cutting edge of any new product.

Not always. I also like things to work as advertised (I think I've even used that phrase to say so) and the cutting edge of anything is usually not quite up to that standard.

The person below me wonders what is up with __________.

That dead guy they found on an island outside of Buckingham Palace. Coolest news story of the week.

TPBM collects ___________.

Lladro Christmas Bells (since 1987) and, of course, books.

TPBM wonders what's going to happen to Greece and Italy and the rest of the EuroZone.

A bit. But I'm more concerned with the state of my current job. I only stayed this long because at my skill set is fairly generic and at least I get got health insurance, but that just was cancelled. At least I took a few bookkeeping classes in the mean time.

The person below me wants to take some classes, and will tell us in what.

Yeah cause I think it's time for a new career. I want to do something in IT.

TPBM isn't perpetually exhausted...

Not since I left IT!

TPBM knows a reliable relaxation techniqie that doesn't have the side-effect of pickling one's liver.

Yoga.

TPBM is always on time.

I am, but the rest of the world sometimes isn't.

//WHL- Get a tan.//

TPBMn dyed an animal's hair.

No way!

TPBM dyes his/er own hair.

Double post! Does wool count?

Once, with some temporary stuff.

The person below me has (also) dyed their own hair.

Not in... uh... a year and a half. May before last.

TPBM has never bothered dying hair of any variety.

I've never dyed my hair, but once in college, I tried "Sun In." It was a product that was supposed to lighten hair when you went out into the sun. I came in and it did look lighter, but it didn't stay that way.

The person below me likes a hair color better than the one on his or her head.

I don't know that I'd like purple better, but I've wanted to try it for maybe a decade now. I haven't because my stylist says she can't do my beard.

The person below me has a purple beard.

I do not have a beard of any color, but purple sounds like it'd be a cool color for facial hair. Hmmm, maybe I can convince some friends...

TPBM thinks that won't go over so well.

//xor - I've never used it myself, but I've heard of Sun-In. Years ago, the pastor at my parents' church used it. He went from lightish brunette to practically white because he was out ALL DAY with that stuff on his hair, took several weeks to get back to normal. And a boy from my history class in 6th grade used it once, but I guess his coverage wasn't so good - he came to school the next week with pale spots in his brown hair that made him look like a fawn and earned him the nickname "Bambi" for the rest of the year.//

Well, Billy Connolly had a purple beard for years, and he only looked like a bit of a prat ...

TPBM dyes their clothing.

Not intentionally, though there was a bit of an accident with a bottle of purple antiseptic spray down at the stables last week, resulting in all-over purple splotches & some very strange looks in the supermarket...

TPBM is a martyr to clumsiness.

I always move with consummate elegance and grace - NOT!

TPBM pumps iron

Yes, every Sunday morning I continuously "pump" that steam button as I iron clothes for the coming work week.

TPBM has all their clothes professionaly done.

Huh? Y'vegoddabekidding!
My Dad's white work shirts got sent out, and we valued the cardboard they came back wrapped around. But otherwise, we had to work through mountains of cottons. I have ironing boards tucked away on the first and the second floor, but it's plumb dangerous to leave them set up. I try to hanger dry most clothing now that would need pressed.

TPBM makes their clothes - or at least some.

Only corsets, and even then I just don't have much patience for it. (corsets are easy sewing - just straight seams - but the measuring and cutting are an absolute bear of a task!)

TPBM is a professional seamstress/tailor.

No, I'm not, but I have, for most of my life made most of my own clothing. When you are short and built like women used to be, it is hard to find ready made clothing that fits. I alter the pattern to fit my curves (or hide them) and manage to look not dowdy.

TPBM has another useful skill they will share.

I know what to do when hell is full and the dead walk the earth to feast on the living.

TPBM has a practical skill.

I can knit. I can cook. Those are relatively practical skills.

The person below me feels chipper today!

Ninja corn husking.

TPBM uses all of his/her fingers when typing.

Yes, I surely do. Took Typing I and II in high school. When I get truly demonic on the keyboard, I even use both thumbs.

TPBM actually has a typewriter.

Yes, one of those old black ones and it's in storage. My grandfather collected old technology and it was his.

TPBM also has a storage unit.

Yes, it's my understairs cupboard & it's filled to bursting!

TPBM is about to buy a new mobile/cell phone & will tell us which one they fancy

Um, no? I keep saying I need to move to this century, but I haven't. My cell is so old that my niece didn't believe it was really a cell phone (too big). One of these days... But it is so confusing!

The person below me keeps abreast of new technology.

Nope, that's why I have Techie nerd son-in-law. He's my go-to.

TPBM knows and relies upon a computer wizard.

Well, I did when I first got my Monster® but don't need to now.

TPBM does a lot of computer-related work for friends and family.

Only the research aspect. It took several years to find a particular obscure book on WW2. My friend had the title and the author wrong. But I recently was able to present him with the book he actually wanted.

TPBM finds funny desktop pictures.

No, my desktop pictures are usually family members and I don't include the funny looking ones.

TPBM loves Honey Crisp apples.

I think I've had a honeycrisp or two. Apple varieties I can be certain I've had -- and love -- include braeburns and winesaps.

The person below me has never even heard of braeburn or winesap apples.

Heard of, but never eaten. The most common ones around here are Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith.

TPBM lives in Apple Country.

We ran an orchard for a few years, but we were too far from the big markets for it to pay. My favourite variety that we grew was the Gravenstein. It is common in Nova Scotia, but pretty scarce here in Ontario.

TPBM has a favourite apple recipe.

My grandma's Roman Apple Cake. I treasure the recipe card in my mother's handwriting.

TPBM is worried about the weather - or something else...

Something else.....OMG will this week never end...

TPBM needs a new_______.

Job, but we've covered that already. Failing that, a new pair of boots -- or any shoes, for that matter, so long as they don't give me more blisters, dammit.

The person below me now wonders just how many blisters I have.

It's more information than I care to think about even, thanks anyway.

AC, are you going to be here for the Texas Book Festival again?

TPBM has rappelled.

Yes, as part of ROTC training. ('Just lean over and walk down.' 'Sir! You do realize that every time I've done something this foolish it's led to serious injury or legal ramifications, SIR!' 'Son, you can walk down or I can throw you down.' 'Sir! See you at the bottom, SIR!') I only took the classes because they were an easy A, but they opened up a whole new world of responsibility and order for me.

TPBM has a long weekend coming.

Well, it's only 2 days, but there are no obligations so it will seem long. Hooray!

TPBM is already thinking about Thanksgiving.

My church is looking for someone to lead the Thanksgiving potluck. I had the grandiose idea that I might volunteer. I am working at talking myself out of it.

The person below me often bites off more than he or she can chew.

h-m-r-n-r-mm-r-h-h-r.

or more clearly, Yes.

TPBM has chocolate in the freezer.

Yes - wrapped around some glorious vanilla & caramel swirl ice cream. Would gladly pick the chocolate off & throw it away, but that's a lot of work.

TPBM is already finished their Christmas shopping.

//AnnaClaire, I love both of those kinds of apples. Golden Delicious are okay if they're still green. I don't like especially sweet apples.//

I'm finished because I don't do that any more. Yay!

TPBM also stopped Christmas shopping.

Nevah! I like buying gifts and really like getting them.

TPBM will let us know what they want for Christmas.

I want an intangible thing that I will most probably not get. It'd be nice, but it's not likely to happen.

TPBM has recently been used as a chew-toy.

No. The drug-sniffing dog at the Amtrak station clearly preferred chewing on his squeaky toy than on me or my suitcase.

The person below me has been searched at a security checkpoint.

When I flew this summer, I was given the choice of a pat-down or having my hands swabbed. That wasn't a difficult decision to make.

TPBM would have chosen the pat-down.

Shoot. Lept.

No, but I walked past the squeaky-toy chewing sniffer dog about an hour ago. Union Station, DC.

TPBM is also traveling.

Not for a few weeks. Going to Virginia to see my daughter and family. Can't wait, haven't seen them since the beginning of July.

TPBM has a secret.

Yes, I do.

TPBM is glad to see cooler weather and now wishes for rain.

Yes indeed. Some rain would be good right now to make the gravel less dusty.

And we're coming into my favorite time of the year - autumn.

TPBM has grown heirloom tomatoes or heirloom apples.

No, but my sister-in-law does.

TPBM is seriously thinking of joining www.occupywallst.org.

I wish there were a more direct and effective way to encourage that fairness of wealth distribution. Wall Street believes they have every right to whatever they can bleed from the economy. That is the definition of the system.

TPBM thinks it's unbearably complicated.

Sorry, I veered into a corner there, I think.

TPBM wants NACHOS!

Yes. Yes, I do. And I might just make them (I have tortillas in the cabinet and cheese in the fridge...)

TPBM makes toys.

Nah, my arthritic hands don't allow for things like that, unfortunately.

TPBM has a favourite TV show they wish was still on-air.

"China Beach"

TPBM's favorite character on "China Beach" was played by Jeff Kober.

Never heard of him or saw the show.

TPBM is almost prostrate with adrenalized pure joy over the Walking Dead, season 2.

In fact, I have never really gotten into this modern passion for Zombies. Apologies to those who "get it".

The person below me is more into communicable diseases as a way to kill off the human population.

Nah, I've never been into the plague, I'm more about an alien invasion ending all life as we know it.

TPBM has a favourite alien

No! No, I say! My viruses can take your aliens and zombies any day! Diseases rule!

TPBM prefers yet another apocalypse.

I think it will happen in a more traditional Christian way.
I firmly believe that Bono (yes, the lead singer of U2) is the Anti-Christ. He looks like he's doing good around the world, and then one day he's gonna somehow get all-powerful and try to take over the world. And people are going to let him because they think he's "just trying to help"
I don't trust that man as far as I can throw him. He is pure evil.

TPBM has never considered the evilness of Bono, but is now intrigued by my statement.

p.s. I also call 'I Told You So!' on the world if this does eventually happen!

You're right, I have never considered the evilness of Bono, but am now intrigued by your statement.

TPBM wonders why police bother to use polygraph testing in investigations, if they're as inaccurate as all the reports I've been readings suggest. (Up to 60% inaccuracy ratings? Really?)

We don't seem to be a society that cares about accuracy or truth anymore.

TPBM has their Halloween costume selected already.

Nope. I have Kidlet's costume (he's just going to reprise last year's Prince Charming because we have all the pieces), but I need to put together a costume for me and one for Kidlette.

TPBM has a healthy appetite.

Way too healthy, unfortunately, regarding volume; appropriately healthy for the types of foods I mostly eat.

TPBM has found a new style of music that they can't get enough of.

Um, no. I don't listen to much music anymore. I got hooked on audio books instead.

The person below me makes great meatballs.

Yup, with home made swedish meatball sauce & Lingonberries - yum yumm yummm

TPBM has had Swedish meatballs - in Sweden.

Yes I have - lots of them. The relatives with whom I stayed served them for breakfast. Tortes heaped with whipped cream became available mid-afternoon.

TPBM is comfortable saying "no" to well-meaning family members of the "have more, there's plenty" school of thought.

Yep. When I'm full, I'm full, thanks!

TPBM spins yarns (literal yarns or literary ones, doesn't matter which).

Not in a long time. Loved it; lived on Top Ramen.

TPBM has a new 'do.

No, but I'm pondering it. I haven't had my head shaved in a couple of years. I have a dermatology appointment in December and would like to show the doctor my scalp. The scheduling might not work well enough, though.

The person below me has had their head shaved as a matter of style or convenience.

No, but there have been times I've wanted to shave it just because it wouldn't behave! My sympathies to those who lose their hair when they don't want to.

The person below me has well behaved hair.

Only because all I tell it to do is stay braided...

TPBM donates (time, money, goods, whatever).

All of the above.

TPBM also donates blood.

I've tried on several occasions, but for some reason it's always just after I've gotten a new tattoo.

TPBM is currently rereading their favorite book.

Ah, but which favorite? There's Little Women and An Old-Fashioned Girl or I can dip back into Mansfield Park, always worthwhile. So while I can assure you I will re-read something this weekend, I can not be sure just what.

The person below me finds Louisa May Alcott to be too preachy.

I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose she had an agenda, most authors do, so maybe she was a bit preachy, however, I still love her books. My Mother gave me a new copy of Little Women when my son was seven. I read it with as much enjoyment as ever. I reread it almost a year later, after her death, to feel connected to her again.

TPBM has a different favorite re-read.

I'm always going back to P. G. Wodehouse.

TPBM has flown in a biplane

IF I did, it never let on that it was.

TPBM can play the banjo.

Ooh, I don't know; I've never tried.

It's a special day for TPBM.

Yes, my daughter's 30th birthday. Bunch of favorite relations gathered to celebrate. It's always beautiful on this date.

TPBM has photo proof.

maybe if I knew what that was I could say one way or the other.

TPBM enjoys a good game of Scrabble on occasion

What, on occasion? Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and Clue are my favorites!

TPBM prefers more high-tech games.

I love Clue! No, I'm a simple kind of gal.

The person below me has played Tripoly.

Never even heard of it.

TPBM has also created their own rules to Risk because they couldn't figure out the real ones either.

Definitely. We have no idea how you're really supposed to play it.

TPBM has a good friend who is also on LibraryThing.

Not that I know of, although I guess I do know some people here. Never checked.

TPBM knows of a good and cheap/free library catalogue and check-in/-out system that a residential community center can use. And will tell us.

//Help, help, I need help!

Last night or early this morning, I was listening to the radio and heard a song that really hit me. I listened for quite a long time, but the DJ never said the title of the song. The woman singing it had a light voice, not quite soprano. Apparently she was singing to her boyfriend/husband/whatever, and it finally hit me that he was dying. Some of the lyrics were "Why must you leave me now," "We thought you'd sing again," "Why you and not me?" I wish I could remember more of them, but I wasn't listening that closely until I realized the guy was dying.

Thanks. //

Can't help you there, Someguy. Sorry. Hey, mabye you could write one!

TPBM realized that there probably is no good and cheap program for libraries.

I don't know, but I just emailed my Dad who is a library cataloguer (retired) to ask if he has any suggestions.

TPBM is also celebrating Thanksgiving this week-end rather than next month.

edited to correct typo

ETA for response. Newp. Next month, the way god intended.

//Boo, I did a quick net search and didn't find anything. Call the radio station with the day and time and ask for their playlist; they have to keep one by law and should be forthcoming with the info. They might also have posted it online so check their website.//

//RSN- I never thought of Bono as the anti-Christ, but I never liked the guy. So yeah he could be the anti-Christ. I also think U2 peaked with War and need to retire before they become an a guidance counselor version of the Beatles.//

TPBM is hungry.

No, I'm saving up for Thanksgiving, tomorrow. At least we Canadians have time to use up the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers before Christmas.

TPBM wore summer clothes today.

I pretty much wear the same thing year round. I did have my swim suit on at the pool, but back to jeans and a tshirt tonight.

The person below me has a drink concoction alternative to soda. Besides tea.

//SomeGuy, they're in Canada, and I didn't find an online list, so I sent a message to a couple of the DJs. I could tell them about what time it was on, so that should help. I don't know the guy who was on at the time.//

I like to drink hot beef bouillon with a dash of celery seed in it.

TPBM gags at the thought of that drink.

That doesn't sound like a drink. It sounds like the start of a soup.

TPBM prefers salad to soup.

On the contrary! I'll grant you it's a but over-salty for my taste, but I often have beef or chicken broth for something warm on a cold night. Of course, that won't be for several months yet.

TPBM got rained on this weekend.

Not yet, but the weather is expected to change tomorrow (and as noted above this is a *long* week-end)

//Someguy, my Dad says to "Google Koha and a version of it called PINE." but he also said the free ones weren't very good and I should ask my brother the computer expert, so I'll get back to you//

TPBM has a creative idea of what to do with the left-over turkey.

I made turkey ravioli last year. It was a lot harder than I thought it'd be because my pasta roller wasn't working.

TPBM it excited about Halloween coming up and has already decorated

I'm decorated, all right. I'm spending October reading cards in Salem, MA. The place is Halloween crazy. I fear I did not pack enough black and orange clothing.

TPBM is appalled.

I don't understand. Why would I have been rolled like a log? (That's a Forestry joke, folks!)

Actually, it think it fun that you're doing it. We atheists don't fears superstitions, as we have no deity to defend. We do, however fear that others act based on their superstitions, though.

TPBM is reveling in the consumption of locally grown, fresh fruit.

Again, WHL, you are thinking I'm some jolly sort, dancing in the meadow, and otherwise exhibiting signs of excessive behavior with regard to vegetation. In reality, I'm a grey-haired battle-axe of the sort formerly known as "prunes and prisms".

The person below me is a big proponent of farmers' markets.

Yup, but it makes winter fruit & veg difficult to find.

TPBM had pumpkin pie today.

No, I reserve my pumpkin pie feasting for Thanksgiving and Christmas. With lots of whipped topping please...mmmm

TPBM did a good deed today.

//Today IS Thanksgiving in Canada.
Mr. House, I got it, even though I'm not a lumber jack. lol//

I did not punch any number of people in the throat, many of whom would have benefited from it. Including my shuttle driver who didn't show up (I had to work.)

//Thanks Carod. My folks live in a retirement community and they have an in-house library of a few thousand books/movies/CDs. I appreciate your help and will pass it to the volunteer librarian there.//

TPBM is___________.

going to let you all know that the name of the song I was searching for is
"Why Must You Leave Me Now?" by Liona Boyd.
I haven't found a link to play it, yet, but it's beautiful.
A friend sent me the title and artist, and I just mentioned it to my DJ friend, and he played it for me almost immediately. He'd never heard it before, either, and was happy to know about it.

TPBM is familiar with Ms. Boyd's work.

Well of course, she is Canadian after all. I prefer Loreena Mckennitt however.

TPBM has another favourite Canadian musician (and I don't mean Justin Bieber)

Leonard Cohen, one of the best of the greats.

//So Boo, you're saying she sings like...a boyd?! Bwahahahahaha! Heh. OK fine.//

TPBM is reading tonight.

//carod, do you know where I can find a download of that particular song?
SomeGuy -- groan.//

I read every night, as well as a couple of times during the day.

TPBM couldn't imagine not being able to read every day.

I could, actually, but now I get paid to read, so go figure!

TPBM has never been electrically shocked, either accidentally or purposefully.

//I'm sure iTunes would have it. If you know someone with a Toronto library card there are a few copies of the CD it is on in the library//

Never seriously, although a department store in Manchester installed brand-new carpets when I was young and the static electricity coming off me was alarming ...

TPBM feels ________.

Grumpy. Maybe it's because I have to go to work. Yes, I think that's it.

TPBM dreams of _______________.

Painless knees.

TPBM would be glad to be rid of ___________.

housework.

The person below me ________________.

Thinks TPsAM need more coffee if they are going to post this early in the morning. :>). I will put in as many votes as I'm allowed for painless knees, after several years of relative compliance, mine have gone on strike, at the same time. Makes me walk funny.

TPBM will talk about some important, non-confrontational subject

Is there such a thing as an important, non-confrontational subject?

TPBM will make one up.

Well even though I got leapfrogged, the last part of my answer works:

Books.

All of us here on this website love books, whether hardcover, paperback, audiobook, or e-reader versions.

TPBM doesn't have a cell phone.

I do, but half the time the battery is dead. Only a few people have the number and they rarely call it because they know I can't be trusted to have charged it or to even have it with me. I don't like being available all the time and I don't like things that need to be re-charged all the time.

I am getting pressure to get a new one, but I'm dragging my heels. Mine is beyond obsolete in tech terms.

TPBM will tell us an interesting fact about a book they own.

I sometimes tag by cover subject:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?searchall=1&deepsearch=girls&off...

That's not so much about my books, but about a lovely fun feature here.

TPBM has won big in a lottery.

No, but I'm budgeting for a win later this month or at the end of November.

The person below me got rich the old fashioned way.

You mean they inherited it?

TPBM is off to listen to a favorite author speak.

//I consider it winning big every time I snag an ER book!

carod, I found a CD on amazon, and it's not very expensive. Yay! I'm waiting on a gift card and will get it then. I like to order enough to get the free shippingl.

It's amazing, isn't it?!? One day was all it took for one of my on-line friends to find the song for me. I'd never have done it, myself.

You can listen to snippets here. http://www.classicalguitar.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/175 The song I wanted to find is the last one on the list. I think you'll all agree that her voice just floats.

I found this video, and there are more, of course. While I love her voice, I like it better with no visuals. This video is a little, shall we say, too dramatic for my taste. Her singing partner ain't bad, either!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HzBHGWZu9w//

No, most of my favorites are dead so unless Michael Chabon is on town I'm staying put. I'd go see John Waters, too, and several non-fiction writers, but I'm not going anywhere. Hell, I don't even feel like ironing a shirt for tomorrow. But I gotta.

TPBM works with a card.

///Check this out for floating and sublime. Novicat de Soeurs Missionaires performing Yesu Ka Mkwebaze.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFDkuooQb8E

Without reviewing all the choral works I've heard over the past several years, I feel it equals most arrangements in charm and complexity, and is only exceeded by Herbecks' Pueri Concinite, a personal favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EabtwyF2P4
//

//Thanks, SomeGuy. The first one was okay, but I could close my eyes, lean back and listen to the second one for hours. Not the same song, but the same voice.//

#241 I used to work with a card to get into the building I worked in...
I have to work with my Library Card to check books and such out...

TPBM has been to the local library recently.

No, I did some traveling and turned everything back in before I left. I placed a hold on a book last night so I will be going to the library soon.

The person below me is getting ready to make a major purchase.

I sure am, I'm going to buy some books tomorrow.

TPBM can guess which ones

One will be The Secret Museum of Mankind.

Well, actually that's one I picked up yesterday, but I think you should get it too RockStarNinja. I got it at my local humane society thriftstore and it is quite mysterious. I would give you the author, but there isn't one.

TPBM will elaborate more on this book.

Elaboration: http://ian.macky.net/secretmuseum/ looks like quite a find.

TPBM has also found a treasure at a thrift store or garage sale.

My only treasure is MrsHouseLibrary, whom I found online, and she came freely.

TPBM likes to attend book festivals.

I would if they were close - I do attend the local Friends of the Library Sales in the spring and fall, even taking days off work for the one in my town.

TPBM has enough books on their To-Be-Read pile to last 6 months to a year.

Oh, yes! I'm an opportunist, and I buy books by the boxful (or boxesful, as the case may be.) My garage has stacks which I haven't even visited for a year.

TPBM, in contrast, is very controlled about their reading plan.

Surely you jest! The older I get, the less control I seem to have of any plans.

TPBM is tired and wants to call it a day.

If only that were the case, but it's 11 am here so I'm trying to get up and not be lazy and actually start my day.

TPBM is a cypher, a cypher wrapped in an enigma, covered in secret sauce.

Yes I am, but hold the pickles please.
I like to think we're all that way, yet each one is different.

TPBM finds analogies somewhat... lacking.

I try to remember that all of them are. On the other hand, I have many times found it profitable to pursue them farther than ever imagined by their originators.

The person below me has made an analogy.

I'm sure I have, but since my brain is like a sieve, I can't seem to remember one.

TPBM knows of a good online bookstore.

I don't think so, sorry D: Amazon, maybe?

The person below me is currently writing a story or attempting at a novel?

Well, I've been writing stories for quite a few years now, but haven't pursued getting them published at all.
I'm editing the books of two other authors, though. It's like getting an ARC, only you get to rip it apart (in a literal sense).

TPBM is mentioned in a book somewhere (other than the phone book).

Well, technically, when we were little, we all wrote this little book about friendship (that actually did kind of get published) But, not really :P My best friend wants to be a writer, and she's writing a book about our little 'adventures'. So, if that ever gets published--you never know! :)

The person below me is in a relationship? (I hope that doesn't seem like an intruding question!)

Madam, I am in a relationship with the entire human race, freely distributing the milk of human kindness and doing whatever small thing I can to make the world a better place.

//Boo- www.bookcloseouts.com //
//carod- nice work on the Secret Museum link.//

TPBM has experienced an epiphany.

I have. When I read the response above, I suddenly realized, "SomeGuyInVirginia is a truly amazing human being*, and I am honoured to bask in his reflected glory".

* or whatever he is

TPBM has been fingerprinted.

Yes, as a Canadian who married an American, this procedure was a requirement before I was able to enter the U.S. as a Registered Alien.

TPBM has encountered cross border complications.

A few hangups in customs coming home from other countries, but nothing that wasn't quickly (well... relatively, when your group is 105 people, mostly teenagers) sorted out.

TPBM has never flown internationally.

Sorry to disappoint you. I spent two weeks in Ireland; a very lovely place.

I've been fingerprinted, blood typed, retina scanned and put on a lie detector machine, all for various jobs.
So glad to be out of that corporate insanity.

TPBM knows of what I speak.

//That has possibilities, SomeGuy, and has been bookmarked. Thanks.//

No. I never had to go through all of that for a job, but my jobs never required security clearance.

TPBM has worked at several different types of jobs, from computer programmer to waitress/waiter.

Well, exactly! Computer programmer until 1977 when I quit my job and boyfriend, moved to Connecticut and waitressed for 3 years, then back to California where I resumed programming and still do so to this day. However did you know?

TPBM has a different and interesting work pattern.

I have a B.S. in education, I worked for 13 years for a geologist, and now work at a job I needed to be fingerprinted for (which I didn't really want to do - I mean, what if in my later years I want (need) to resort to a life of crime??? I am out of luck. I feel some of my rights were violated somehow.

TPBM likes their job.

Jumped, but I did like most of my jobs and really love what I do now.

Well, I baby-sat, cleaned houses, did ironing, cleaned a church on a weekly basis, took the nursery every Sunday and waitressed. That got me into nursing school, where I worked as a Tech on weekends and holidays and got a plum job with a local pediatrician as his nurse for a Sunday Sick Kid Clinic. After I graduated I was a recovery room nurse, open heart surgery recovery, terminal ward charge, assistant evening supervisor and IV starter (these jobs were at three different hospitals in the same town). I then got a job with the BIA, moved to New Mexico, and became the new charge nurse on the pediatrics ward, which, when the nice salary lust passed, became an extremely frustrating job, bureaucracy, doncha know. Sometime in there I met my future husband and gave up the job to move to Chicago and work on a Peds ward there. I took a months leave for wedding stuff and worked until my pregnancy became difficult, over a year and quit. I've been since then, mainly wife and mother, but I've also been a school nurse, executive assistant, teacher, and now I paint pictures and make jewelry and garden and chase crazy cats around.

TPBM thinks that is way too much information.

Um, a bit... :P

TPBM is still in school?

Every day...elementary school librarian.

TPBM is contemplating a career change.

Nah, still in school. You know... I sure wish I could get a career change.

TPBM can play drums? (Rockband drums, not the marching band percussion)
EDIT: In that case, someone who can play a drum set?

I used three complete sets of drums plus various extra toms and cymbals to fill in as needed.
I don't hear very well.

TPBM roasts almonds.

I'm allergic to almonds. So...no.

TPBM loves to party?

I'm not that coordinated, but I have a habit of tapping out a rhythm on a desktop when I'm trying to force the zone. If I get really stuck or tired I blast heavy metal on my iPod; does wonders.

TPBM is going to bed early tonight.

What's not to love? Sure.

The person below me is learning something by heart -- a poem, lines for a dramatic production, a phone number?

(Getting a bit mixed up there? Lol)

Um, yeah, learning my own number by heart, and all the words to some of my new favourite songs.

The person below me loves singing?

Only if nobody hears me. (Okay, maybe my kids.) I get terrible stage fright even if I'm not anywhere near a stage.

TPBM is ill.

Yes, but I don't like to whine. lol

TPBM is extra tired right now.

How did you know? I spent the day with a chatty (edit: solartube) installer, who didn't come with the right equipment, had to go back to the office and pick it up. Then after I have holes in my wall, ceiling and roof, he tells me that he'll just use duck tape to cover the edges since the product doesn't come with a flange! And he kept trying to sell me other products. Like I'd buy something from him again...

The person below me is not frustrated by anything right now.

I wish I could say that. My frustrations list is holding steady, at least.

TPBM already knew that when babies fall asleep, they gain 10 pounds and turn into nuclear radiators capable of emitting several hundred degrees and develop an eerie ability to put whoever is holding them to sleep.

Sure! I thought EVERYBODY knew that!

TPBM knew.

Hell Yeah I knew!!. . .
. . . Knew what?

TPBM knows

Ah, but there is knowing ............ and knowing!

TPBM neither knows nor cares.

Today that just about sums it up. Way too many drinks last night on our "Management night out" & I feel like crap today!

TPBM would never go out to party on a work night.

Not any more. I need my REM sleep.

TPBM knows how caffeine can interrupt a good night's sleep and avoids it in the afternoon and evening.

Nope, caffeine doesn't bother me, the only reason I stay awake is that pouring hot liquid into your mouth is difficult when sleeping. I once had a 12 cup a day and 3 packs a day habit. Now don't smoke and drink reasonable amount of coffee.

TPBM has overcome a bad habit.

Um... Biting my nails possibly. But I sometimes still do that, so I can't really say that :/

The person below me has seen a kangaroo in the wild?

Never been where wild kangaroos live.

TPBM has been where the wild things are.

Yes, I have. I spent the day with my daughter-in-law and her home daycare kids. Once was enough.

TPBM wonders how anyone would have patience enough to have a daycare center.

Every week when the preK class comes for storytime. 20 minutes a week is more than enough time with small children for me.

TPBM would rather be with preschoolers than middle schoolers.

Both are only dangerous when they swarm. I'd rather not be with either, and what are they doing out of military school, anyway?

TPBM goes out at least a once each work week.

I actually go out everyday I work, I kinda have to in order to get to said work. I try not to go out on my days off because I don't want to have to use any more gas than I absolutely have to.

TPBM has better ways to save gas.

One word: Beano

TPBM prefers coffee ice cream over any over flavor.

Yes, but I can no longer eat it after dinner as it keeps me awake--- Life is hard... Black raspberry and pistachio are also good.

TPBM is plain vanilla all the way.

Nope, when I could eat dairy it was pistachio mocha almond fudge. YUM! wonder if they still make it?

TPBM is starting to do their Christmas shopping.

Well, I'm thinking about it at any rate. Does that count?

The person below me has decided to do all their holiday shopping online this year.

Not all, but probably a significant proportion.

TPBM is blowing in the wind today.

Nope, sheltered indoors & about to go have a nap.

TPBM is going away for Christmas this year.

My folk's for Eve/day then back to DC or Las Vegas for the New Year.

>>283 abbottthomas: at- I knew you were going to say that. I just knew!

TPBM stores wrapping paper.

Have you been looking under my bed? That's where the box of "just in case" wrapping paper is kept....and never seem to have the right paper for the gift in hand, and have to go buy more.

TPBM just gives gift cards and never has to buy wrapping paper.

No, I never give gift cards - and I don't shop online much, either - if I'm buying someone a book as a gift (or treating myself), I steadfastly use my local independent bookshop - the prices are higher, but I don't want to see that place die! And for clothes shopping, it's a thing with me that I have to see/feel the clothes - mail order never works for me!

TPBM will give someone a hug today (and if it's a complete stranger, tell 'em Sophie in Scotland ordered you to do it!)

So I got slapped in the laundry room. (One of the worst places to be slapped.) Plus, she says you owe her money.

TPBM is looking forward to a fall foliage road trip.

I don't need to go on a road trip, the kids are building forts out of the fall foliage on my front lawn.

The person below me has an especially impressive tree in their yard.

Yes - a very large Norway Maple - currently still green, but it turns solid yellow - lasts about two weeks and then drops all leaves in about three days.

TPBM does not understand what all the fuss about fall colors is about.

I enjoy them since I have lots of trees in the rural area I live in, but would never consider driving anywhere to see them again. Did that in Maine and Connecticut a couple of times. I am excited about autumn, though. It's my favorite season and coming in slowly here in central NC.

TPBM is going to bake something sweet today.

I've run the scenario through the 'puter a couple of times and the probability of me doing that is less than (-1 x -1)- .10 - .999 to the 23rd power. Which officially puts us both in the realm of 'almost certainly not' and 'only in a parallel universe'.

//WHL- do I remember correctly that you have a forestry degree? Because in this town saying you work for the US Forest Service is the same as saying 'assassin'. No need to respond if it ticks you off. Or blows your cover, in which case I ask for a gentlemanly 24 hour head start.//

TPBM is taking care of everyday, grunt-like household stuff.

Well, who else is gonna take out the trash and wash the dishes and do the laundry? Certainly not my sister, despite that she knows that the chiropractor told me "no bending and twisting, no heavy lifting, and no heavy housework until your back stops hurting." And my mom being at work 70 hours a week, and my kids being unable or too young to help leaves it to me!

TPBM hires someone to do the everyday grunt-like household stuff.

Nope. Those tasks fall to me to be executed.

//SomeGuy - yes, my degree is in Forestry, with a minor in Park Management. It still wasn't enough to get me into the Park Service. You can have the head start if you want it, but I can track dust mites migrating over ancient lava floes, so it's not going to do you much good. But don't worry, the Texas Book Festival is next weekend, so, I'll give you a pass on your comments - this time! //

TPBM throws away the dust jackets of books.

Blasphemy! why would you throw away the dust jackets?

TPBM has ended a friendship because you lent out a book and when they gave it back it had a broken spine or folded pages.

Never! I value my friends, and I wouldn't ever do something like that. I would, however, possibly make them buy me a new one.

The person below me is from Europe?

Family origin, yes. And despite what my high school guidance counselor said, I almost certainly will live to 2030 and mark the iV's 400th anniversary in this land. Drinks on me.

TPBM has two houses.

Um. Technically I have no houses, cause I still live with my parents. However. We still do not have two houses. So no :P

The person below me has a sibling who is disabled?

Not officially, but he does think he's Batman, so maybe?.....

TPBM has done a polar bear swim

A polar bear swim? I suppose not, since I'm not sure what that is :P

The person below me does/has done gymnastics?

No, I used to do aerobics and then the knees took a beating and I switched to walking and yoga.
#305 karenmarie - I made applecrisp today. It's raining and dreary here so the aroma filling the warm kitchen is wonderful.

TPBM has been to a rain forest.

Only to the rain forest display at the Ontario Science Centre. It was steamy.

TPBM is having a bad hair day.

Since the humidity is always around the 97% mark, it's always a bad hair day for me.

TPBM doesn't have control of the TV remote, even if it's in their hand.

I do have control since I live alone. When I bought my first color tv back in the late 70's, the remote was $50 extra and I thought the expense silly. Now I would think it a hardship if the tv had no remote!

The person below me has also changed his/her mind about some technology.

edit to reword

I have come to like codexes and printed books. I like indoor plumbing and reliable electric lighting although I have happily lived by candlelight in a tent earlier in life. I might prefer a horse, but they are not provided for in cities nowadays so I make do with an automobile.

The person below me lives in the backwoods and lives without the technology that I have come to depend on.

Backwoods, yes - 8 miles from our small town of 2,000 people. I have indoor plumbing but not 100% reliable electricity - thank you very much Progress Energy of North Carolina! - so we have a generator. We also board horses but do not ride them.....

TPBM has a book printed prior to 1850.

The oldest book in my house is from 1893 and that one isn't even "mine," exactly; I'm supposed to be listing it online to sell. My mom's cousin sells used books, movies, etc on places like Amazon and eBay and she brought me a couple boxes for me to list (and split the profits) but I've not had the time to sit down and actually DO it yet! I may have to split it up; list a few things a day till it's all done.

TPBM doesn't break large tasks up into smaller ones.

No, if there's a big job to be done I just work my socks off until it's complete - if I try and do stuff in small chunks, I never finish ...!

TPBM thinks drivers should retake their test every 10 years or so.

No way, José! I couldn't start learning stopping distances and when not to overtake at my time of life. My plan for improving road safety is to introduce a flagging system - if you see bad or ill-mannered driving a text to the licencing authorities will put a flag against the car registration. When the car has collected 50? 100? flags it is confiscated and crushed.

TPBM could live with that.

Well, I could live with that because I don't own a car & intend to keep it that way, but I think others might have a real problem with that.

TPBM can tell me what I need to do to get my very sore (chronically so) ankle to heal finally.

I might if I knew its history and what is causing your ankle to be sore, so speculatively, I'd say "keep off it for a while", but I'm not a doctor.

TPBM has played one, not necessarily on TV.

Sure. Doctor Mommy. Scrapes, cuts, fevers, colds, chicken pox, etc.

TPBM thinks Virginia Woolf is an over-rated writer.

I'm not sure since she is on my list of "to read." Now I'm wondering if I should take the time to try one of her books.

TPBM will convince me to try one, and suggest the best one to read.

Try one! The best one to read! I read 'A Room of One's Own' and enjoyed it, but just as I don't like non-melodic music, I don't like 'stream of consciousness' books.

TPBM loves/hates H.P Lovecraft and will 'splain.

When my son was going through his "I'm a genius and I don't know how I've come to be bordered with you two sub-standards" ; he read Lovecraft constantly. It's been fifteen years and I can't even bring myself to read book covers.

TPBM has experience with a superior teen they have "adopted".

No, no teenagers for me thank you.

#328Okay SGIV, I will add A Room of One's Own to my list. Of course I will hold you responsible if I don't like it. Hey, you put yourself out there.

As for H.P. Lovecraft, never read one, do you have a suggestion??

TPBM has an odd pet.

We have a 7 year old plecostumus in our fish tank, along with lots of teensy fish. He's the only one that looks prehistoric, though. His name is Big Guy, for obvious reasons. He's about 9" long. This is not our Big Guy, but he looks exactly like the one in this picture.



TPBM also has an odd pet.

Well, not in that it's weird to have one as a pet (he's a dog) - just in that he's just plain weird. He falls asleep laying on his back with his head hanging off the edge of the couch. Or he forgets he has to go potty mid-trip because There Was A Squirrel OMG Did You See It Mom There Was A Squirrel! (He is way more easily distracted than the Golden Retriever, who has some severe Distractable Dog Syndrome.)

TPBM has Distractable Human Syndrome.

Sorry, I was distracted. What were you saying?

TPBM will tell us what their favourite meal is & why

Lots, preferably free. Or butter and garlic with something.

The person below me eats daily or more often.

PS Because I like 'em.

R

Yes, but many times only one; dinner. Not much for breakfast, often don't eat lunch.

>>330 morningwalker: mw- My strongest suggestion for Lovecraft is don't waste your time. His style is absurdist melodrama and he may well be the most overrated author of all time (italics my own.) If you are FORCED at GUNPOINT to read something by him, I'd make it 'The Rats in the Walls' and be done with it forever. His fans are legion, which both saddens me because he is so ridiculously bad, and gladdens me because anyone can make money writing crap.

TPBM will tell us their favorite film director.

Bill Forsyth, Scottish director of Local Hero. My favourite of his is (1984) Comfort and Joy. Also Hitchcock.

TPBM has another favourite director.

Martin Scorsese
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/scorsese/

TPBM will name his/her favorite Scorsese film.

I've only ever seen Goodfellas and Casino, but of the 2 I'd say Goodfellas was better.

TPBM cheats at boardgames

I wonder whether it is even possible to cheat at go. I suppose you could move a stone if your opponent turned her back.

The person below me has cheated at go.

You can't prove it.

TPBM loves to rock.

Do you mean "raaaawk!"? Well, kind of - but I prefer to dance.

TPBM is allergic to something odd.

It may be odd to the rest of you, but for me, the following go beyond the scope of allergy into the area of deadly poisonous:
garlic, onions, peppers, red fruits and vegetables, tanic acid (tea), alcohol, basil, cumin, turmeric, rosemary - okay, almost all herbs.

TPBM wouldn't dare try to cook a meal for me.

No way would I. I would probably contaminate anything I cooked for you with the garlic, onions, and herbs coming from my pores because I use them so much. I feel so bad for you WHL, how do you survive. I cook with most of those items daily. What do you eat?

TPBM doesn't cook.

Not if I can get out of it.
By the way, I'm allergic to chicken feathers so can't take a flu vaccine because they are incubated in eggs, yet I can eat eggs with no problem. If that isn't weird, I don't know what is. lol

TPBM likes to bake.

I love to bake. . .I'm baking right now as a matter of fact. My specialty Jam Cookies.

TPBM has their own specialty

Leaped! Yes! I do- cupcakes from those specialty shops. They're so good it's like foreplay for the mouth.

I don't know, I've never tried.

TPBM wonders how people 100 years ago were able to eat the foods they ate and not kick it with congestive heart failure by the age of 30.

The weaker ones died in childhood. The ones that survived got a lot more physical exercise in a day than we do in a week. Or a month.

TPBM gets their exercise from something besides a gym.

I'm not at liberty to say...

TPBM gets squeamish at the sight of blood.

Doesn't bother me - I'm a three-times-a-year blood donor - but obviously copious amounts of it in the wrong place are something to worry about.

TPBM has big feet.

Nobody would call me dainty, but my size 10s don't really stand out in a crowd.

TPBM caught the press story today of a man ordering, on-line, a single size 14.5 (UK) slipper to match his different sized feet and receiving a size 1450 - big as a bed - because of a dropped decimal point.

He should keep it, with the coming zombie apocalypse he won't be the first person to live in a shoe.

TPBM is going to a flea market this weekend.

No flea market, but if conditions are right I will go to a Friends of the Library book sale. It is one of my big events of the year.

TPBM can never wear a new shirt without spilling something on it.

I've managed to get away safely in a new shirt, but I can't be very complacent about wearing a white shirt. I wore one the other day for just an hour or so out of the house, and I notice stains on the cuffs.

The person below me doesn't wear socks if they can avoid it.

That totally depends on the season. Woolies are feelin' pretty right today, as we're in the 30s.

TPBM wears fur.

Never. Unless you mean cats draped over you due to the change in weather.

TPBM has received or given a thoughtful gift recently.

Well, I bought my mother some arnica gel. Does that count?

The person below me has a laptop.

Right here in front of me.

TPBM holds their laptop on their lap sometimes.

Sometimes, if there's nothing to put it on. I can't imagine ever owning a desktop again.

TPBM has a panic room.

Well, I have rooms in which I panic, but somehow I don't think that's the same thing that you have in mind.

TPBM has a bomb shelter.

No, but the local concrete products companies sell modified septic tanks fitted with a metal door. I think they're cute. I wouldn't mind having one at the back of the garden.

TPBM is ready for the sh** hitting the fan.

Oh, No! Is that today? I totally forgot. Well, sometimes you just end up hip deep.

TPBM is aware that today is the amended day the world is to end.

What, again? This world's had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra!

TPBM will tell us what made them laugh most recently.

My boss had a very bad experience with a car repair place when the clutch went on his car, called Mister Clutch and he ranted and raved in the office about them for weeks, and swore blind he would never use them again ever. The clutch has just gone on his wife's car and I heard him on the phone this morning whispering to someone....they clearly couldn't hear him at the other end and asked him to speak up. And so he got up and shut the connecting door between us, so that I couldn't hear his phone conversation. However, the door is not as thick as he believed cos I could hear him quite clearly, saying he would be taking her car tomorrow into..........Mister Clutch! When he opened the door again....I said 'So, Mister Clutch tomorrow then!!' At least he had the grace to blush!

TPBM will tell us a tale of horror from one of their trips to a car repair garage.

Not mine, but my sister's.

She got into a tiny finder-bender. Literally, that's all she did, bent the fender. So she took the car to the shop our insurance requires. They fixed the fender, but they somehow managed to crack the radiator. They tried to say she had cracked it and just didn't know it, but she had driven the car around for a week and a half before taking it in without any trouble, and a cracked radiator wouldn't last that long.

TPBM does their own car repairs.

Our car is currently at the repair shop for the next two-three weeks so that experts can fix it. No, I'm not happy about it, but if you need it done *right*...

The person below me is restricting retail therapy in order to cope with real life.

I always have.

MrsHouseLibrary is bipolar. Fortunately, she's on the right meds for her to keep her "sane". But, until the right one was found, her primary symptom was incredibly strong urges to go shopping. It could be two in the morning, and she'd get out of bed and get dressed to go shopping for, oh... a lamp. Oddly enough, she hates the idea of shopping for groceries.

Those who are bipolar know what I mean by using the term "sane". To those who are not bipolar, please don't think I was being insensitive.

TPBM has called in for car advice to Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.

I think I did once many years, decades?, ago.

I hate car repair places. I even got cheated at a AAA owned garage! I am facing repair work soon. Darn it. I did find a guy once (referred to me) who was great, but he kept assigning my car to the apprentice who did lousy work. Sigh.

The person below me has better luck choosing repair people.

I've had better luck when I've been stuck, apparently.

The gas pump died in my wife's van a few years ago, in a town about eighty miles south of here. It was her "Big Girl" weekend, and I had to drive there to 'rescue' her. It was a Sunday afternoon, so I randomly chose (nice oxymoron) a towing service and a repair shop. I lucked out. My regular mechanic said the fellow did a good job, using quality replacement parts, at a cheaper price than even he would have charged me.

I did some contract work up in Delaware a couple of years ago - drove up there from Texas. The day before I returned, my fourteen-year-old radiator broke where the upper hose attaches. I was able to temporarily fix it so I could get it to a radiator shop, and they had it back to me in about ninety minutes with a new radiator in it. I even saw them open the carton. The price - a lot less than I expected, and it's still holding up (the radiator, I mean - not the price.)

TPBM has got something special planned for the weekend.

Reading! I went to the library book sale today, and came home with four bags of books. Some for me and some for the kids. None for my husband, because he is not a reader. His loss.

TPBM loves a non-reader.

This weekend, coax my spine into behaving. NEXT weekend we're going to the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT and I don't want to spend the entire trip in a wheelchair or walking like a question mark.

I love several non-readers...

TPBM knows how to convince a sleepy stubborn baby that she won't miss anything if she takes the nap she's been fighting for two hours.

Soak a rag in gin and let her suck on it.

//I'm pretty sure I'm going to a library sale tomorrow. Why, I don't know. My bro recently pointed out that I have more books than I will ever be able to read. I didn't see his point.//

TPBM has recently had a mishap.

//SomeGuy, what was his point?//

No, but my birthday was yesterday, and my husband likes to tease me about being as old as he is until Dec. 4. So, I got teased. Does that count?

TPBM has a birthday coming up soon.

No, my birthday was yesterday.

The person below me has a birthday that wasn't yesterday.

Let me check....

(time passes)

Nope, apparently not, but the closest I get to celebrating mine is that I acknowledge that every year, I get older. When, is irrelevant.

TPBM finds that odd.

I find everything about you odd, which is why I like you.

//Happy b-day Mr. D!//

TPBM is an early riser.

//Mr.D. I forgot your birthday was the same day as mine. Belated happy birthday!//

Only when I have to. . . Stupid work, making me get up early and whatnot.

TPBM can tell me something useful

In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides.

TPBM has, in the past, found that information to be quite useful.

I can't think when.

Leapfrogged while checking the quote, but it's such useful advice that I'll leave it here!

(There's always the useful advice Bertie Wooster gave to the schoolgirls in Carry On, Jeeves - "Never forget ....... that, if you stand outside Romano's in the Strand, you can see the clock on the wall of the Law Courts down in Fleet Street. Most people who don't know don't believe it's possible ....... You can win a lot of money betting with fellows who haven't found it out.")

TPBM likes a little flutter.

//Late Happy Birthday wishes to Boo and Mr.D//

Yes, the littler the better.

I am one of that very exclusive group of bettors who once bet on a horse that died before the end of the race.* I felt sorry for the horse
but a lot sorrier for my own horse-evaluating and betting abilities.

TPBM has made at least one bet on: an election; a dog race;
or a World Series.

*There must have been a few others, or the odds against him
would have been much higher.

I'm not a gambling woman, so no.

//More late Happy Birthday wishes to Boo and Mr.D.//

TPBM is always on time.

Yes, to the distress of many of my friends and relatives. My brain runs on hospital time, which is about eight minutes faster than any other clock in any given town. I have some friends that I care for enough to forgive their lateness, but I always make dates with them for thirty minutes earlier than I want to arrive, then they are mostly on time. (I know, but they are nice gals)

My family, with two exceptions, is the worst. If you tell them that you have to leave at 2:30 to get to where you need to be on time, they step into the shower at 2:10. I have "borrowed" their cars more than once so as not to be late for an appointment. Only one of them called the cops on me, but she is totally crazy and no one believed her.

TPBM has a relative who is totally crazy. (Not bipolar, I have a very mild version of that and so do several of my best friends.)

Well, they mostly have quirks...non-stop talking, mean barbs, miserly, stuff like that. The only real crazy (greedy beyond belief) is my cousin's grandson who murdered her to inherit her house.

On a happier note: Happy birthday, belatedly, to Boo and Mr.D!

The person below me is looking at greenery right now.

No, I am looking at my computer screen right now... and in a few minutes I'll be looking out a car window. We're going to the nearest IKEA store to buy a bed frame and some other stuff.

TPBM is going shopping soon too.

I just got back. Arlington county library fall sale. I got a rounded selection, and an old Bible full of notes, clippings, and an ancient stalk of wheat.

If TPBM had to start their library all over again, they'd do __________ differently.

A little bit.

Differently.

I'd keep some of the books I've gotten rid of over the years.

TPBM very rarely buys books.

Certainly not every day. I already have more books to read than I can read before I die, unless medicine conquers death in the next couple of decades.

Thank you everybody for your good birthday wishes.

The person below me spends most afternoons in the public or school library.

Not most afternoons, but this morning was my stint for voluntary library duty.

TPBM is rooting for the All Blacks to win the world cup. (Looking forward to the Haka!)

//Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I had pecan pie with whipped cream, instead of cake. Yummy!//

//Boobalack - YUM indeed. My favorite 'birthday cake' is Lemon Meringue Pie, but it has to be made with my mother's recipe.//

On the basis of supporting the underdog, I was rather hoping that France could cause an upset, which, with a 8-7 win to the All Blacks, I suppose they did. Anyone's game up to the NZ touch kick in the 78th minute - certainly worth watching. The Haka was excellent, and I liked the French chevron response.

TPBM thinks I should stay up to see the Bears v. the Bucks from Wembley tonight

I will support you in that endeavor, but you should consider whether you have to be up early in the morning. But whatever makes you happy!

The person below me doesn't get up early in the morning, but is lucky in being able to sleep late whenever s/he so chooses.

No, plus I don't really seem able to sleep in during the weekends anymore. I've lately fallen into this weird sleep cycle where I'm out at 9, wake up at 2 and either go back to sleep or lie there in a trippy waking dream state that some people pay for and others pray for.

TPBM periodically discards books.

No, but should I? Yes.

The person below me doesn't do hammocks anymore.

Not anymore. I'm not sure whether getting in or getting out is more difficult. But I know that the ground is getting harder.

TPBM is not limited by time or space.

You're only limited if you think you are.

TPBM has a unified theory.

>393 SomeGuyInVirginia: SomeGuy, read 1st Samuel. And then ask "What!!?"

No, and it's really left me at loose ends. I spend more time that anybody I know would guess trying to figure out time, space, the nature of infinity. Right now I'm thinking about why time moves in a single direction. The only thing I've come up with so far is that a single direction is the easiest thing for it to do.

>2wY, I'll check it out.

TPBM smells something delicious.

//siubhank, I like the kind made with Eagle brand condensed milk. My aunt used to make one for me every year on my birthday. I made one for my older daughter every year until we became separated by geography.
jillmwo and SomeGuy, I have my days and nights mixed up. Awake until about 5:00AM then can't get up until 2:00PM. I do not like it. I've tried getting up early, staying awake all day, going to bed at a decent hour, then STILL can't go to sleep. I suppose I should just sleep when my body wants to, yes?//

I do smell something delicious. Hubby just heated some lasagne. I don't want any and will have ribs later.

TPBM loves lasagne.

Matter of fact he does!

TPBM has lived long-term in at least two places, and misses the former mainly because of missing a dish which it specializes
in but which is rarely seen in the latter.

Break it down...
I've lived in Texas for twenty-two years, having moved here from New Jersey, where I lived for all except three years of my life prior.
I ~think~ that answers the first premise.
As for the food thing...
Yeah. In NJ, there was this substance called Taylor Ham, which was not available here until about ten years ago.
You don't want to have too much too often, and it's pretty damned expensive, but I love the stuff.
About six months ago, the supermarket stopped carrying it because only people from the northeast would buy it - apparently not often enough for the store to make a profit on it.

The new thread starts here.