Ye Olde Book Meme

Not only does falling out of a sail boat make you feel like a clumsy fool, but it qualifies you for a book meme. Actually, I don't mind this meme. I love to read books.

The rules: List fifteen books that had a profound impact on you in less than fifteen minutes.

It will be difficult to make it to fifteen, so I'll just list as many as I can think of in a reasonable amount of time in no particular order.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I love the satire. I originally read Pride and Prejudice in high school and have reread it many times since. After falling in love with this book, I decided to read other Jane Austin books and a Jane Austin biography.

Emma – Jane Austen

Yep, another Jane Austen. I loved this book immediately.

Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

This is the book that changed my reading habits forever. Even though I was never a teen-aged boy, I felt like I related to Holden Caulfield. I too felt different, lonely, restless. Obviously, it's one of my favorites. After I read it the first time, I decided to do a little research about the book and I was surprised to learn about it's controversial history. How could anyone consider banning this book?

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

What's not to love about this book? It's dark, beautifully written, the characters are fantastic and a good chunk of the story takes place in a Gothic manor.

Animal Farm - George Orwell

This was a book I read in high school and while I was loving it, most of my classmates were hating it. Thanks to this book, I cringe when people mention utopia.

Nineteen Eighty-four – George Orwell

This book freaked me out. It took me three attempts to finally make it through to the end. The Newspeak kicked my ass.

Interview with a Vampire – Anne Rice

I wasn't sure I would like this book, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I thing it really stands apart from other books in the Vampire genre. I'm not saying it's the best Vampire book, but I love how the story unfolds. I've read the other books in the series, and while I find them entertaining, they don't compare to Interview.

The Love You Make: An insider's story of the Beatles – Peter Brown

I love the Beatles. Love, love, love the Beatles. I read this book when my obsession with the music was just starting to unfold. Many consider this book the most authoritative book concerning the Beatles and rightfully so. Peter Brown was the Beatles' business manager and close friend. If you like this band, I highly recommend giving it a read.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

This book is a great piece of American fiction and I love the Gothic feel. It's not full-on Gothic, but I think there is an undertone.

Charlotte’s Web - E. B. White

I read this book during the third grade. For a certain period of time each day, we would follow along in the book as the teacher read the story aloud. My entire class was in tears when we read about Charlotte's passing in the book. I loved the story anyway and was dying to raise my own pig.

I'm completely out of steam now, so those will have to suffice.

I was considered PWT

I saw this over at Brimstone & Treacle and thought I would participate since this meme seems a little more interesting than most. Also, I am short on topic ideas at the moment.

The items that apply to me are bold.

1. Father went to college

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

9. Were read childrens' books by a parent

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (this refers to out-of-school lessons, like music or sports.)

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 see above.
As a child I did get to take a few dance classes, but usually the cost was too high for me to participate long term. When I turned 9, I started swimming competitively since I could join a neighborhood team which was almost free.

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
My parents paid for my college education by taking out loans.

16. Went to a private high school

17. Went to summer camp

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
As a child I wore plenty of hand-me-down clothing, but I also received new clothes.

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
My parents bought me my first car. A 10 yr. old Camaro that required me to install a new gas tank before I could drive it anywhere. On the plus side, I found out that putting in a gas tank is not that hard.

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child

23. You and your family lived in a single family house
Mostly rentals.

24. Your parents owned their own house or apartment before you left home
Exactly one year before I went away to college.

25. You had your own room as a child
I don't have any siblings...that I know of.

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18

27. Participated in a college entrance exam (eg. SAT/ACT) prep course

28. Had your own TV in your room
I kept this TV through college. It finally died a few years after that. Considering it was my parents TV for several years before I got it, I would say that we totally got our money's worth.

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

31. Went on a cruise with your family

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.




From "What Privileges Do You Have?", based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you please acknowledge their copyright.

The 5 things meme

On Friday I was tagged by Dr. A and Ambivalent Academic for the five things memes.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Lancelot and I were living together in a cramped one bedroom apartment with two cats, Shibba Dibba Shoeshine and Balou.
2. I was transitioning from journalism to science after finally admitting to myself that it was what I was best at.
3. Sleep walking, insomnia and talking in my sleep was hitting an all time high in terms of occurrences.
4. Becoming dependent on coffee.
5. Gaining ~15lbs after giving up on finding the energy to exercise.

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Make transcriptional fusions.
2. Make triple mutant.
3. Extract RNA.
4. Paint bathroom.
5. Buy shoes for wedding.

5 snacks I love:
1. Cereal (healthy and unhealthy)
2. Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips
3. Dark chocolate. I'm talking 80% coco.
4. Lemon Bars
5. York Peppermint Patty
6. 3 Musketeers

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off all of my families debt.
2. Finish all home repair.
3. Take kick-ass vacation.
4. Invest everything else.
5. see 4

5 places I've lived:
1. In very industrial, poor city. (it smelled really, really bad)
2. Suburbs (blech).
3. The Barrio
4. The shittiest little town in all of the US (a.k.a. University Town).
5. Apartments. Lots and lots of apartments.

5 jobs I've had:
1. Graduate Research Assistant
2. Mad Scientist (Seriously. I taught fun after-school science classes to elementary students. I even had a special mad scientist name that I will not share because it is embarrassing and contains my real name.)
3. Swimming Instructor
4. Camp Counselor
5. Food Server at Mexican Restaurant.

People I will tag:
1. Dr. J
2. Rhea Miller
3. Academic

6 Random Facts and/or Quirks

Yes, this is a meme, but there is no tagging and no posting of rules. The fact that I own cats (see chall for explanation) is to blame for this meme-like blog post for today.

1. I nearly broke my ankle last year in a sleepwalking incident.
I am not sure what the hell I was doing, but at some point in the night, while asleep, I felt the need to leap from the bed to the floor. Sounds harmless right? Now consider that I didn't land on the floor on my side of the bed. Instead, I leapt over Lancelot, ending on the floor on his side of the bed. Now factor in a king size bed. I awoke to find myself in intense pain and extremely confused. Once I got my wits about me, I hobbled downstairs, grabbed some frozen vegetables, popped a few hundred painkillers and contemplated going to the emergency room. Ultimately, I decided my ankle was not broken and later found out from the doctor that it was a horrible sprain.

2. I convinced my friends at after school care that I knew the devil...personally.
I bored easily as a child* and for some reason, I thought this sounded fun. At first they did not believe me. I proposed that we dig him up and ask, because of course, the devil is a man and he lives under the ground. Once we got about a foot down, I pointed into the hole and shouted, "Look, a horn!" Everyone screamed and ran away. I pretty much ruled that place after that.

3. I can't stand anything touching the front of my neck.
All my shirts, that aren't v-necks, are completely warped in the collar because I am constantly pulling them away from my neck. The dentist and the hair salon are particularly problematic. To avoid going bat shit in these establishments, I put my finger between my neck and the little paper bib (dentist) or the collar thingy (hair salon) so that I am the only thing touching my neck. If someone's hand gets too close, I will hit it away before I realize what I am doing. Take home message: keep the hell away from my neck.

4. It can take me a couple of weeks to name a new cat.
It is a long drawn out process that involves making lists, narrowing down, testing out names, etc. It sounds silly, but I can't just name them Dave or something. For example, my cat Sifo Dias (named after a Star Wars character) was almost named Wu or Adabisi. Ultimately, Sifo Dias or Jedi Master Sifo Dias, was just more fun to say. Plus, Sifo Dias has mad skills, it's as if he can use the force. He is pictured below.



5. I bought so many shoes a couple of years ago that I actually grounded myself.
I couldn't go near the Nordstrom or DSW for six months. It was soooo hard.

6. I freaking love the Deadliest Catch.
It is my favorite show. I watch it so much that I can troubleshoot some of the problems that occur on the boats with some degree of accuracy. I know they are terribly sexist, but I just can't help it. I find it fascinating and I cannot get enough of it. I now rate the danger of all activities up against crab fishing on the Bering Sea.


* OK. I still bore easily.