Appetizer
What is your usual bedtime? Do you like that, or would you rather it be different?
It varies – we’re very nocturnal, so we tend to be up at least til one, and two or three on weekends, but I wish I was one of those people who could easily fall asleep around eleven, at least in summer, so I could take advantage of cool mornings.

Soup
When it comes to advice, do you give more or receive more?
I tend to give more, but it depends on the subject.

Salad
Describe a memorable meal you’ve had.
We’re currently staying at the Hotel Indigo in Houston, and we just came upstairs from a light supper at their bistro. We had appetizers of red and blue corn chips with melted bleu cheese and salsa, and then Fuzzy had a bbq chicken pizzetta, and I had a delightful salad of spring greens and sliced zucchini, carrot, and tomato with sundried cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette, with grilled salmon crumbled on top. Filling but still light and healthy. Not the most divine food ever, but a very relaxing end to a day of driving. (Also this hotel rocks – they have the same cherry laminate flooring we do.)

Main Course
Name a work of fiction that affected the way you think about something.
I read so much, but for the most part, fiction is mind candy to me, and doesn’t linger. There are, however, elements of many novels that stick with me – anything that involves having the courage to write, or taking time to plant flowers. But if I had to name one, probably The Mists of Avalon is probably it – I read it in high school, and it was the first time I’d ever considered there was a different POV – and a feminine one, at that – to Arthurian Legend.

Dessert
What is your favorite type of fruit juice?
Odwalla’s Tangerine juice is my favorite single-flavor juice. It’s different than actual orange.
At home, I blend orange and cranberry a lot, or mix cranberry juice with sparkling water and lime.

[blenza_autolink ff]

Thirteen Things about MissMeliss 13 Movies I really Dig Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) A friend of Fuzzy’s dragged us to see this when we lived in SoDak, and at the time, I had no idea what the movie was. Later, of course, I read Jim Lovell’s book, Lost Moon, which the movie was based upon. Even after seeing it multiple times, this is one of my “comfort films” – the kind I can put on for background noise when I’m working on something else. Better Than Chocolate I caught part of this on HBO or Showtime one night when Fuzzy was working late, and later rented it because I liked what I’d seen. It’s a quirky little love story, and admittedly the plot’s a little week, but the acting’s worth it. Bring It On Feel good fun – it’s just so bubbly and vapid. Clue I grew up playing the game, and I realize this film was panned by critics, but really, it’s hilarious. Tim Curry makes the movie. The Cutting Edge – Gold Medal Edition Moira Kelly plays bitchy with the best diction ever. And yay, skating. Empire Records Another film I saw on cable, then had to rent. It’s short on plot, long on 90’s alt rock, but it’s fun to see the cast in their early work. Little Women (Collector’s Edition) Traditionalists may prefer older versions of this film, but I liked the 1995 treatment, even if it was a little preachy at times. It’s one of my favorite things to watch when I need writing inspiration, or just to feel cozy. Love Actually (Widescreen Edition) How could anything with this cast not be great? I mean, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley and Hugh Grant all in one movie? Try topping that! The Lover This is based on a semi-autographical novel by Marguerite Duras, and it’s essentially soft porn about a French schoolgirl and an Asian businessman having an affair in 1920’s Vietnam. The plot is weak, the visuals – even the non-sexual ones – are beautiful. (The American version was edited so that the lead character’s age was raised to 18 – I understand an aversion to kiddie-porn, but this was a consensual relationship.) This is one of those movies that stays on my list as much because it was a special night when I saw it, as for the film itself. The Princess Bride (Special Edition) Funny, romantic, and packed with action and great acting. A modern classic. Strictly Ballroom Quirky, sweet, cheesy, and fun. Truly Madly Deeply Alan Rickman in a romantic role, and Juliet Stevenson learning what it really means to have an affair with a ghost. Plus, lots of cello. Lots and lots of cello. You’ve Got Mail As someone who both worked in an independent bookstore, once upon a time, and met her husband online, this movie has a special place in my heart. Even if they did use AOL.

[blenza_autolink tt]

It’s been a horrid day. While mulled wine, made in the microwave, eased the cough I can’t shake enough for me to sleep last night, it knocked me out to the point where I overslept today, and never did manage to shower or dress, beyond the addition of underwear and old comfy (ripped in a thousand places) cotton leggings. I also managed to spill said wine on my soft, blue, cotton NaNoWriMo shirt, thus making it look as though I was shot. My grandmother, if she had been buried instead of cremated, would be rolling in her grave. If she were still alive, she’d be calling me words like “ragamuffin” and “you look like a miserable wretch,” and she’d be write.

So the day started badly.

It then got worse. I broke my blog, lost the piece I was writing for work – twice – spilled water on electronic equipment, jammed my printer, and knocked my already-damaged keyboard tray off it’s rollers thus breaking it MORE, and I fought with Fuzzy, and the cord on my keyboard isn’t long enough to put on the top of my desk because of the way the cords are strung, and Fuzzy brought me DayQuil instead of a dedicated cough suppressant, but it just doesn’t work, and I don’t have enough of my work stuff loaded onto the MacBook to use it exclusively.

I just want to scream.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, that felt kind of good.

My skin is dry, and itchy, and lotion isn’t helping, and I’m drinking tons of water, but it’s not helping either. I’m tired and crabby didn’t get as much done today as I’d hoped.

Also, Macs seriously need to look into the concept of right-click. And the Vaio has way better video.

A friend in Houston is getting married this weekend, and after being sick on and off all year (so far), I’m really excited about getting away, even though it’s only overnight. We wanted to stay longer, but this is a bad weekend for that, so Fuzzy’s agreed I can book a weekend at a B&B in Galveston for later this spring.

In any case, Friday night we’re staying at the Hotel Indigo, recommended by the bride, and it looks fantastic. Their design theme is all very nautical, and their philosophy involves Fibonacci sequences and Phi, as well as the nautilus. The rooms all have cushy high beds with tons of pillows, hardwood floors, and frou-frou showers, and there’s a Starbucks in the lobby. The decor in the pictures is very similar to my own tastes, and has me wanting to paint the house. (We’re starting with the kitchen.)

I’m thinking about painting our bedroom blue. A cheery blue. With sneaker white trim. I like nautical colors – our bedding now runs toward nautical themes. Blue and that sunny-but-not-overwhelming Italian yellow. Happy colors.

Stayed up too late cleaning because I was wired. Off to work now.

I say… And you think…?

1. Nude :: naked
2. Support :: system
3. Rachel:: Ross
4. Crane :: Paper
5. Candy bar :: Ghirardelli
6. Material :: istic
7. Mind games :: Brainfuck
8. Eviction :: Notice
9. Produce :: Direct
10. Joke :: Cosmic

Like this meme? Play along here.

In playing in meme-land I’ve recently been introduced to Sunday Scribblings. This week, they’re asking about Superstition.

When you grow up living and breathing theatre, you hear about theatrical superstitions from the ground up – never wish anyone “good luck,” a bad dress rehearsal means a good opening night, never whistle in a theatre, never put a hat on a bed, never refer to a certain Shakespeare play by name, but rather as The Scottish Play, etc. For someone like me, though, with an active imagination, the crowning superstition is that of the Unfinished Story.

It’s a common theme in entertainment – characters enter a scenario only to be locked in until the story plays out, at which point everything ‘resets,’ and, for me at least, it’s related mostly to scary stories. I refer to unfinished from the reader’s perspective, in this, and not the writer’s, though the corresponding writerly superstition would be “talk about it and the story dies.”

But I digress.

There’s a kind of power in a tale that hasn’t ended. Until you get to the ending, you don’t know if the vampire will be dusted, or the war will be averted, or the lovers will reunite, and if you’re me, and read a lot of scary stories, and have an imagination that runs away with you, you NEED to know how things end.

Case in point. I recently read a novel called Fangland, which I mentioned here, I think, was so creepy I had to read it in daylight. It was the kind of story that lingered in my mind, whispering at me as if walls between reality and fiction had grown thin, and the whispers didn’t cease, couldn’t cease, until I’d read the tale to the end, and the resolution had been accepted.

So, that’s my superstition: Stories must never be left unfinished.

I’ve confirmed that it’s the software for my cell card that causes Norton to disallow the checking of email. Stupid software.

Woke today all dry and scratchy-throated. Couldn’t breathe. Lungs hurt, head’s all spinny.  Fuzzy’s insisting I’m too sick for workshop, but even though I know I’m running a fever, I feel guilty for staying home.

My week is always off-kilter when there’s no workshop. :(

Okay, too much whining. Whining never helps. Something good: Mac arrives to-morrow. Yay, new toy, better workflow.

The best therapy for a wrenched knee is the traditional RICE treatment. Rest – Ice – Compression – Elevation. But the second-best therapy is the one I chose, and it worked wonders. My therapy? Ignoring it completely and taking part in an improv show.

I could barely walk even as late as this afternoon, and I was hopped up on cold meds, but I gathered every ounce of reserve I had, and went to the show, with my ponytail bouncing. I have a friend visiting from the frozen north (Minnesota) after all, and I wanted her to see me on the field.

I was tickled to find out that I was playing on the Red team, and that my teammates were Captain BigE and TC. He asked us for input about games, and neither of us wanted to choose, and the Blue team was having similar issues, so RefB called us to warm up and sent the captains to make decisions. Warm ups weren’t anything exceptional, but they did keep me from focusing on my knee, which was good. By the end of it, I was ready to go. It wasn’t until almost time for vending that BigE said, “We’re playing interrogation and audience sound effects,” and I was excited about both, until he told me I was guessing for interrogation. I’ve only played it once, and never even workshopped guessing, but one of the things that’s cool about playing with BigE is that he pushes me to try stuff I’ve never tried. “You’ll do fine,” he coaxed. “It’s easy.”

It wasn’t exactly easy, and I made a few mistakes, but in the end I guessed correctly that I was coloring outside the lines in a park in France with James Brown. And If I get to play it again, ever, I’ll know how the game ‘feels’ from that POV, and won’t make the same mistakes.

Blue played a game of Moving Bodies that had really good puppeteers. They also played Dinner at Joe’s. We played Blind Line, and then, Five Things – which was tough. Really tough. We never finished the fifth thing, and didn’t get the fourth. Or maybe we did. It went to fast I don’t remember.

Blue played Dance Party after half time, and had some interesting justifications. We ended with Story followed by 185.

Blue won, and notes were long, and specific, but really constructive. I learned a LOT tonight. I had my back to the audience more than once, and shouldn’t have, stuff like that.

But my knee? That’s not bothering me at ALL.

Appetizer
What does the color pink make you think of?
Cherry bubble bath, and linzer tarts, the heart shaped ones with the lingenberry jam in the center.

Soup
Name something you thought you had lost, but later found.
My nerve. For a while after Valentine’s Day I was dreading ComedySportz, but then I found my courage again. Now, I’m eager to play, even though I’m still kind of sniffly.

Salad
In 3 words, describe this past week.
Sunny, sniffly, brief.

Main Course
What are you obsessed with?
These days it’s all about books and BPAL perfume, though improv is still a big obsession. I’m happy about sunny not-humid weather, but it won’t last long. Oh, and I crossed to the dark side and ordered a macbook that has yet to be shipped, so I’m a little obsessed about that.

Dessert
What kind of perfume or cologne do you like to wear?
First? I only wear oils, because the alcohol-based sprays drive me nuts – too strong, too much perfumey scent. I like the stuff from BPAL because it’s interesting to try and sniff out the notes, and because their descriptions are half the fun.

[blenza_autolink ff]