1. Tell me five of your favorite websites, and explanations as to why they are your favorite to visit.
Aside from OD and LJ, and the blogs of individuals (all of which are available on my blogroll) the websites I frequent most, or at least are most prominent in my brain at this moment, are, in random order:

1) The Pern Forum – because even though I rarely post there, I find a lot of the ranting extremely entertaining, and I sometimes am inspired with new ideas.

2) Lessons Learned – Lisa writes about her life in a 24/7 TPE relationship with such candor that even if the concept of BDSM is totally revolting, her story is compelling. For me, the stuff about her kids, and her gardening and her taste in music and books and politics is made more interesting because of the juxtaposition with the rest of her life. (NOT work_ok, and NOT kid_safe)

3) Lori's Trek Fic – I admit that I'm a Trek Geek, and further that I like fanfic. One of Lori's series, “The Captain and the Counselor” involves Picard and Troi as a couple, and she writes the tale in a such a fashion that I can buy it as a possiblity.

4) Illusions of Motion: Babblings of a Beach Baby My own blog, which doesn't have anything that isn't here or on LJ, most of the time, but I love that it's MY space and even though it's technically MORE accessible to others, I feel less inhibited there. But I wish people would comment. Comments are good.

5) Fannie Mae Online I go here every day, a zillion times a day, because I'm paid to, and because there's nothing cooler than automated underwriting, and…oh, only sites for personal reasons? Well, then, my last pick is, DayDreaming on Paper A blog topic prompting site.

2. What constitutes a great friend to you?
I have to be able to disagree on individual items without the friendship ending. If I wanted friends without opinions, I'd have more dogs. Actually, even my dogs have opinions. I have to be able to contact friends at 4 in the morning, if need be. Not that I ever have, mind you, but, the ability to do that is crucial. I like friends who poke me when I get all reclusive, but I know that many of my friends also share my habit of doing so, or share some degree of shyness, so we're all kind of enabling each other. Other attributes: a sense of humor, some degree of honesty, reasonable use of language – these are my a-list. And while a penchant for wearing hats and drinking fancy coffee is appreciated, it is not actually required.

3. Have you written, or do you write, in a paper journal? If yes, do you ever doodle in the margins? If no, what would it take to get you to write in one?
I had one of those kid-diaries when I was little. You know, the leatherette books with the gilded pages and “My Diary” inscibed on the front in loopy gold lettering that peeled off when scratched, and a cute little silver key. But I was more interested, then, in getting responses to what I wrote, and I guess that's still true, because while I do noodle on paper, sometimes, and have had many other “blank books for writing,” and while I LOVE the feeling of writing in ink on paper, I just think better composing at the keyboard, and I censor less. With my hands bothering me as much as they are, also, the physical act of writing has become less than pleasurable, and my handwriting, which was once pretty, has completely degenerated. So, getting me to write in a paper journal again wouldn't be likely, right now. If I did start again, the truth is, I like college-ruled spiral notebooks, the really thick ones with the squared corners, and the slightly off-white paper with greenish (as opposed to bluish) lines. I do doodle, kind of, but I'm not an artist, so it's pretty embarrassing. And then, there's that feedback thing. I really LOVE feedback. (No, I'm not hinting. It's just a statement.) Also, I find that I write in a completely different voice at the keyboard and in ink. When I'm using a pen, I'm slower and more thoughtful and introspective. And DARKER.

4. Did you ever own any pets other than the current two? If yes, I want details: when, what, and how they came into your life.
Yes. In order: A poodle/terrier mix named Taffy who was a gift from my grandparents' neighbor when I was three. My best friend Alisa was given Taffy's littermate, but her grandmother took over care of that dog. Jody. (See my pool entry). When we moved to Colorado, Taffy came with us, howling the entire way on the plane. Poor dog. But she stayed behind when we left, and it took me a long time to forgive my mother for that. Once in California, I inherited a parakeet, Uh-oh, from a friend, and went through a string of Chinchilla del Rex bunnies for 4-H, and was given another puppy (Tawnie, a long-haired dachshund mix) but when Ira and my mother got married he forbid me to keep the dog, because “animals don't belong in the house”….I have Zorro because he agreed, once he bonded with Abigail, that it was a horrible thing for him to have done, and he OWED me a dog. Fuzzy and I never lived anywhere dog_ok in South Dakota, so we tried cats, a tiger kitten named Kotula and a calico named Sparkle, but again, we couldn't bring them to California, but they both ended up with good homes with trusted friends. And then Zorro came into my life as a rescued-from-the-streets stray, and we hand-picked Cleo two years later (she turned three this spring, and no longer pees on people's feet). There've been fish over the years, and box turtles and lizards as a kid in New Jersey, but you don't really bond with non-mammals.

5. Tell me something I don't know.
I own seven pairs of sneakers and they're all different models of the same brand, RYKA, which I found on the net. I love them. They're designed by women for women, so they fit differently, wider toe boxes, more arch support, and they give money to “Take Back the Night” type causes, which I also like. Empowerment's a good thing, I think.

Oh, and, I've become addicted to crepes.

If you want me to interview you–post a comment that simply says, 'Interview me.' I'll respond with questions for you to take back to your own journal and answer as a post. Of course, they'll be different for each person since this is an interview and not a general survey. At the bottom of your post, after answering the Interviewer's questions, you ask if anyone wants to be interviewed. So it becomes your turn– in the comments, you ask them any questions you have for them to take back to their journals and answer. And so it becomes the circle.