Tagged by , I offer the following 20 random things about me:

1. I am not a morning person, unless being up until three AM on a regular basis counts.
2. I read a lot. Want proof? My bookblog is at Zenitopia.com.
3. I don't speak fluent Italian, but when I speak Spanish, I do it with an Italian accent.
4. A part of me still wants to live in 1920's Paris.
5. I'm a sucker for old movie musicals. Especially when they include Danny Kaye.
6. I have an art supply fetish, but I don't know how to draw.
7. I don't like used books – they smell funny.
8. And yet, I appreciate it when a friend gives me one of her old books, because I know I've been given a personal treasure.
9. I really don't drink as much coffee as I let people think I do. I've even cut my Starbucks visits to once or twice a week.
10. I can't sleep with the bedroom door open.
11. I love cool shoes, but I live in flip-flops and sneakers.
12. My favorite pen, for every day use, is the Sarasa retractable roller ball, in navy blue. If it came in fine-point I'd be deliriously happy.
13. I don't like to write much any more (as in actually write, with a pen, not as in compose pieces of writing), because carpal tunnel has caused my handwriting to deteriorate so much that I'm embarrassed.
14. Last night, I bought two Silhouette novels for 'research' purposes. I want to write one.
15. My favorite ice cream flavors are macapuno (it's a kind of coconut) and green tea – not together, though.
16. I don't like animation.
17. I love radio plays. I think they make the listener use their imagination to enhance the experience.
18. I love movies and books about storms, sharks, ships, and the sea.
19. As much as I miss living in a more urban environment, I'm sort of glad I don't.
20. I fantasize about buying an island and starting my own country, but really, I'd rather live in a small coastal village with good coffee and a great bookstore. Someday…

I've been told to tag people, but I'm not into that, so, if you wanna do this, go ahead. :)

Permalink at MissMeliss.com

The power outage in Los Angeles earlier today knocked my webhost off the planet. Truly, they did a great job of bringing things back, but I was without email for the bulk of the day, and blogless until about 12 minutes ago.

I never realized how many minutes are devoted to blogsurfing, until I lost access to my blogroll.

Truly, having a husband who works in the industry helped – he explained how I could be certain the problem was THEM and not ME, and then reminded me of what was really wrong. It's stuff I sort of know anyway, but I don't use the information on a daily basis, so I tend to forget details.

The worst part of the day? The last ninety minutes when I could ftp into my site and SEE the files, but apache hadn't been started, so there was no actual web access.

Despite this, I still love DreamHost to bits.

Permalink at MissMeliss.com