17 posts tagged “qotd”

Who's the most surprising rookie in the NFL this year?

Oh yeah, like I'd really know the answer to this one.  I can't even name ONE NFL rookie, let alone the most surprising.  All I know is the Bears suck. 

What's the infamous story people tell about you? 
Submitted by Cherney.

Two words: cherry.  pie. 

This is one of those stories that you can't decide if you remember it because you actually remember it or because you've heard it so many times.  My mom and dad will swear it's true and Mom tells it all the time, mostly to illustrate what a bratty kid I was.  I think it shows how lucky they were that DCFS didn't drop by frequently. 

I was probably around 3 when this happened, because we were still in the Little Red House and I don't think Stacey was around.  I had been told to clean my bedroom because people were coming over and I couldn't have dessert until it was clean.  I clearly remember what my bedroom looked like.  There was a bed and a toybox, the latter of which was empty because the toys occupied every inch of floor space.  Being the first-born and only grandchild on either side of the family, I was a tiny bit over-indulged.  I hated to clean (funny how personality traits are so ingrained even at that young an age) but I loved dessert (ditto).  And dessert was my favorite, cherry pie - cherry cheesecake, to be exact.  Oh the dilemma...  luckily, even at 3 years old, I had learned the Grandma Defense. 

My answer was to clear a path between the door and the bed and from the bed to the toybox.  That was it.  Basically I just kind of pushed the clutter around to make a path.  Then I showed Mom & Dad AND Grandma.  Grandma took one look and said "well, that's not too bad, come have pie" overriding my parents opinion that I'd done a pretty half-assed job.  And she gave me a piece of pie. 

Any smart kid would have just quietly eaten the pie, realizing they'd gotten lucky.  But I was a smart-ass kid.  I took my pie into the living room where my dad was sitting and said "Ha ha ha, I got pie".  And as I turned to flounce away, he gave me a little kick in my little smart ass.  And I fell face first into my slice of pie. 

Now at this point in the story, everyone in my family is usually laughing at the visual image of little Jonnell crying with pie all over her face, humiliated but learning a (short-lived until next time) lesson about being a mouthy little brat.  But I have seen outsiders, non-family members, try unsuccessfully to disguise their shock, appalled that we think this clear example of child abuse is funny, the stuff of family legend.  Wait until I tell them about the time Mom whipped a slab of Velveeta at my head from across the kitchen when I was 12.   I think this answers a LOT of questions about why I am the way I am. 

Ah, family....  good times. 

PS - my best friend Ellen would probably tell the story about how, after several margaritas, I managed to fall straight back off a curb and into the street at an outdoor cafe (still seated in the chair - now that's talent).  Revealing to her, her then-boyfriend-now-husband and my now-long-ex-boyfriend and everyone else in eye-shot that when wearing a short skirt, sheer pantyhose do not provide an adequate substitute for actual panties.  But that's another story.

What method do you use to prepare your coffee or tea? 
Submitted by AgentBouche.

It depends on how I feel, or what is clean.  I have an electric coffee maker, 2 French presses, a stovetop espresso maker and a drip coffee maker.  I never use the drip coffee pot because it takes filters and I haven't bought them in ages.  I love the stovetop espresso maker, and it makes excellent lattes, but I probably use the electric coffee pot the most.  it's the least labor-intensive and the quickest.  The French press is nice but only if I'm in the mood for really strong coffee.  And I've heard that it can raise your cholesterol because the oils of the coffee don't get filtered out. 

What was the one toy you wanted as a kid that your parents never bought you?
Submitted by Princess of Darkness.

It was rare that I didn't get a toy I wanted, I have to admit.  But there was one, the Barbie Dream Town House - it was about 3 feet high and had a "real" elevator.  I have no idea what it cost, but I'm guessing it was a lot, because it was on my Christmas list for several years and I never got it.  But that's the only thing I can think of. 

You must have been a fashion victim at least once in your life. What hideous blunder did you commit? 
Submitted by Tina. 

Oh, there are so many good choices here, it's hard to decide.  Perhaps the perm in 5th grade?  Or the gauchos?  Maybe the stirrup pants with the oversized tunic top?  Any pleated pants? 

One of my favorite stories involves me being a fashion victim, not of my own design, for once.  One summer when I was about 18, I was supposed to go to a Christian Women's luncheon in Morton with my grandmother and my aunt.  These luncheons were dressy, so I put on my favorite (at the time) pink dress, with white tights and white Capezio shoes (I tried to find a picture of these shoes, but they don't seem to make them anymore.  They're just white, laced leather flats - at the time very popular).  Anyway, when Grandma came to pick me up, she asked "Is that what you're wearing?" in a rather alarmed voice (I can still see the look on her face).  Apparently I looked too nurse-like for Grandma.  I suppose, looking back, she had a point, but it wasn't that bad.  She insisted on taking me back to her house where she reached into her closet and found an burgandy (as in eggplant) velour suit - a matching skirt and blazer.  And shoes (I've blocked what they look like, but I'm sure they were heels, probably something strappy).  And then we had to stop at the only store in Elmwood with clothes to get a dressy blouse (I seem to recall a big bow around my neck).  So it's at least 83 degrees, humid, and I'm wearing an eggplant velour suit.  It was fine in the car on the way to the lunch, since Grandma always blasted the air conditioning (it was a meat-locker on wheels).  But once we got there I looked and felt really silly.  I was wearing a burgandy velour suit (again, I must emphasize, velour) that was about 2 sizes too big.  And it was velour.  In the summer.  She had an issue with the white tights/white shoes combo, but velour was just fine.  But if you knew Grandma, you know there was absolutely no point in arguing with her once she made up her mind about something.  It just wasn't worth the consequences. 

But the best part was after the luncheon when Grandma took me back to Aunt Cathy's to spend the night.  While Grandma was still there, Aunt Cathy said she had a suit for me that she didn't want anymore.  It was navy, really cute.  After Grandma left I told Aunt Cathy the story about the velour suit so she didn't think it was something I'd actually chosen myself and we both were laughing SO hard because it was SO Grandma.  Then she asked if she could have the navy suit back, because she really still liked it, but she thought I didn't have any decent dressy clothes to wear.  And that made us laugh even harder.  So at least that time my fashion victim status wasn't my fault. 

Do you have any phobias?
Submitted by Amirul B Ruslan.

HA!  How much space is available here?  Let's see, the top 3 are (in no particular order):  flying, spiders and heights.  I manage to handle the fear of flying with Xanax and it helps a lot.  Although I still was convinced on a recent take off that there was something wrong with the plane because I didn't think it was flying fast enough and gaining altitude quickly enough.  Of course the flight attendant then makes the usual announcement that "we've reached our cruising altitude and the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign", so all was well.  Without the Xanax, I would probably have been having a panic attack instead of just calmly observing the plane was going to crash.  So it's an improvement. 

Spiders - there's no amount of Xanax that will help with that one.  They repulse me.  I have a can of Raid on hand to help deal with them, but generally if I encounter one I feel nauseous and shaky.  I think with good reason - I've been bitten several times - once on the eyelid, while I slept, which caused me to wake up with one eye swollen shut.  I don't even want to see "Charlotte's Web". 

Heights - I do a little better with this one, considering I lived on the 45th floor of a high rise for 7 years.  As long as the space is enclosed, I'm OK.  But if that apartment had a balcony, I'd never have ventured out on it.  EVER.  Also, there were HUGE spiders clinging to every window in the summer, so double-reason I wouldn't have used a balcony. 

I also get a bit claustrophobic in crowds and elevators, but that one isn't terrible (yet).

What are your top 5 movies/DVDs of 2006?

I can barely remember what I saw earlier in the year, but here's the first ones that come to mind that I really enjoyed:

1. Dreamgirls
2. Borat
3. Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
4. Strangers with Candy
5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (I don't think this came out in 2006, but we watched it this year and really liked it)

There probably were some better ones but we really didn't go to many movies this year.  And a lot of movies that are supposed to be possible Oscar candidates we haven't seen.  I always think I'm going to get caught up during slower times (like now) but somehow never get around to it. 

What's the most drastic change you've ever made to your appearance?
Submitted by Laurie.

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately - nothing to blog about, so I'm answering the QotD just so y'all know I didn't drop off the face of the earth. 

When I was in college I had really long hair.  I wanted to get a hipper, alternative/punk cut, but I knew I couldn't really pull it off, so I had the stylist just shave half of it.  When I wore my hair down, you couldn't tell, but if I put it up in a ponytail you could see the bottom half was shaved.  It was a good compromise. 

I started dyeing my hair red when I moved to Chicago.  I did it myself the first few times, then I had a very bad experience which resulted in my hair being a very odd color of orange.  Not a good orange, either.  I made an emergency trip to a hair stylist I knew and she fixed it - I've never done it myself ever again. 

Books, movies, music; what's in your top 5 right now?

Books:  how timely, just see below. 

Movies:  as I mentioned previously, I just saw Marie Antoinette.  I really want to see Running With Scissors, which is coming out this weekend.  I also recently rented Friends With Money and really enjoyed it. 

Music:  Nouvelle Vague - Bande a Part (lounge-y cover versions of 80's songs); Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah (their new CD is still all 70's disco glam, but I love it); Joe Jackson - Blaze of Glory (I just bought this from e-Bay.  It's been out of print for a long time and it's one of my favorite late 80's albums.  I only had a cassette tape that someone had made for me and I was really happy to find a used copy cheap on e-Bay.  I love e-Bay.); OK GO - Oh No (Chicago-based band - very catchy songs and as I've posted before, great videos). 

Which of your five senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, or smell) do you value the most?
Submitted by Elisheva.

Gee, they're all so good it's hard to pick.  Probably sight.  Without my contacts I'm legally blind (really, a doctor said so when I was in 8th grade).  That's not even close to really being blind, but it would be terrifically difficult to do anything outside the house without contacts/glasses.  So I appreciate being able to see clearly; so much of my daily life depends on sight.

That said, about 13 years ago, I got really sick with some sort of severe flu or upper respiratory infection and completely lost my sense of smell and taste for around 2 years.  While I lost weight (not an totally unwelcome side effect) it was seriously very depressing and frustrating not being able to smell or taste much of anything.  Most everything I ate tasted bland, so I drowned stuff in tabasco and salt.  Several trips to the ear/nose/throat specialist were no help.  Gradually, slowly, smell and taste returned, but some foods still taste funny to me, like orange juice and Coke (um, I don't mean together). 

And of course, once smell & taste returned so did my appetite and the lost pounds!  Now every time I get a cold, I worry a little that it could happen again, but (knock wood) I haven't been that sick since then.