Sunday Stealing: Moments Meme, I

Sunday Stealing: Shannon's Moments Meme, Part One

1. Do you like blue cheese?

A. I will eat it, but I do not generally ask for it on my salads (or anything else, for that matter).

2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? If yes, how did you quit?

A. I tried them in high school and nearly choked to death, so I never started and quitting was not an issue.

3. Do you own a gun? What are your feelings about gun control/2nd amendment rights?

A. Yes, I own a gun. I am a good shot with a .22, which is as high a caliber gun I will shoot and generally all anyone needs unless you're hunting big game. You can knock out a burglar with a .22 by shooting him in the knee or stomach or head or wherever (or you can turn the rifle around and hit him with the gun butt if you so desire). I think that gun regulations are required and a responsibility of the government. I do not believe "a well-armed militia" means you and me at this point in time. We are not Minute Men awaiting the invasion of the British. I think guns should be at least as well-regulated as automobiles, requiring tests, licensing, and insurance. Guns are already regulated to some degree, anyway - it's just a step further. You can't own a tank, or a true automatic weapon. Everyone agrees that a gun should not be in the hands of someone adjudicated mentally ill. So regulations are already in place, and unless you are one of the few unthinking nutcases who believe you and every mentally ill person in the land should be able to own a bazooka or a rocket launcher, then you believe in gun control, too. Some people just can't admit that they do, or maybe they haven't thought it through.

4. What is your favorite flavor of water or liquor flavors?

A. I don't flavor my water nor do I drink liquor.

5. Do you get nervous before a doctor visit? Why?

A. I do not get nervous with my primary care doctor, but I do with strange doctors. This is mostly because they have damaged me beyond repair and I have no trust of the medical system. Male doctors, in particular, are very demeaning and want to treat me like I have no idea what is going on in my own body.

6. How do you like your hot dogs?

A. I don't eat them much anymore because of ulcers, but I like them with catsup and relish, and no chili. Occasionally I will eat a little mustard on them.

7. Although it’s been asked a lot, tell us about a favorite movie that you haven’t shared before.

A. I think the movie Chocolat (2000) was very well done. The acting in it was perfect, and the storyline right on the mark. I have only seen it twice, but I still remember scenes from it - the one with the mayor indulging himself in chocolate in the window sticks with me in particular - and the way the woman wandered, looking to find herself and a place for her child. But mostly I remember how the introduction of one variable changed an entire town.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?

A. I drink decaffeinated tea. On Sunday I drink decaffeinated Irish breakfast tea, which is my favorite. I do not care for coffee.

9. In a dating situation, have you ever misrepresented yourself to seem cooler or hipper? (Yes we know for most of you it was long ago…)

A. I am sure I did lo those many years ago, but after 33 years of marriage, what does it matter now?

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? Why?

A. My wedding anniversary band that my husband gave me for our 15th wedding anniversary. I wear it instead of my engagement ring and wedding band now because my wedding band has grown quite thin and I'm afraid it will break and I will lose it.

11. Favorite hobby? Tell us about it so we understand it.

A. I like to play the guitar. I mean, really play the thing. Jam the bejeesus out of it until it rattles, shakes and roars, and I'm lost in a song, with my heart stuck there and my brains thinking of nothing but the music, my fingers dancing on the fret board like tomorrow will never come again, and my vocal cords throbbing and my voice sounding as husky as Melissa Etheridge's because I'm reaching for those tones that I can barely sing anyhow because of my asthma. Lost in the song, not just the listening to it but the making of it, the strings digging into the ends of my left-hand fingers because I don't play often enough any more, and my mind going back, way back, to remember the notes and chords from some song I'd forgotten I even knew, my right hand finger-stylin' and strummin' and doing whatever the song needs to make it mine, ripping out the chords like I've grabbed Dracula by the throat and drained his blood.

Does that make you understand?

12. Do you have A.D.D., or have you suspected it?

A. I have a bit of OCD and wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a little underlying ADD in there, too.

13. What’s a thing you dislike or would change about yourself?

A. I'm fat. Not "I should be in a TV show fat," but definitely overweight. I don't like it and I'm not even sure how it happened, but there it is. The weight came in the early 1990s, when the doctors had me trying various fertility drugs which messed with my hormones as well as my mind, and after my hysterectomy, when my hormones were askew and the migraines laid me low for days at a time, the weight just continued to creep on. I remember one day I looked at my doctor and asked her how we'd let this happen - why hadn't she said anything (not a doctor I see now) - and she had no answer. Being fat makes you invisible and turns you into a clown all at the same time. It's okay (according to societal mores) to weight-shame, and I'm very conscious when I'm buying groceries or eating in a restaurant that I am being judged by whatever I've put in the cart or into my mouth. I have not quite come to grips with the notion that this is genetic (many members of my family have weight issues) and that in all likelihood my medications and hormonal imbalances have played a big role, because society still sees obesity as a weakness of will. I don't think it is that - I think it is, instead, genetic and natural, as well as a reaction to what goes on around us. It is also the result of the crap we eat that isn't really food, along with health issues however they relate to various individuals. But even so, it's there, and I haven't figured out yet how to fix it.

14. Middle name? Like it or not?

A. My middle name is French and I like it just fine. It's also one of those things I don't give out on the Internet.

15. Name three random thoughts you might have on this week:

A. Why is my nephew out riding around on the tractor in the hay field when we aren't cutting hay? Why can't I stop biting my nails? Is the guy who wrote the letter to the editor this morning advocating a monarchy for the United States "like the one in England" really so stupid that he doesn't realize they elect a prime minister there and Queen Elizabeth is simply a figurehead, and not a policy maker?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Tell us a bit about them.

A. I drink water, which is wet but ours has a nice taste because it comes from a well and we don't use a water softener (there's a tiny touch of iron in it); I drink A&W root beer, because it has no caffeine and because it is fizzy and I like the taste of it; and I drink tea, which is generally not sweetened though occasionally I will have a spoon of sugar in it.

17. Current worry:

A. Ridding the house of clutter and finding the energy and strength to do it when I'm not well.

18. Current annoyance:

A. You know, the thing that is annoying me most at the moment is a place on my 2014 Toyota Camry that needs a touch of paint. I hit a deer last winter and we didn't think it did any damage to the car, but after several months passed, this small dent in the bottom part of car door showed up, and there is a crack in the paint there now. I bought a paint pen in the vehicle color and my husband took it from me and promised to fix it, and then he lost the damned pen and the cracked unpainted place is still there. It's in the driver's side door and I see it every time I open the car door to get in. I think I shall have to go buy another paint pen and fix it myself this time.

19. Favorite place to be in the summer? Give us a wee bit more than “the beach”.

A. Honestly, I just like to be home. I'm not a fan of heat, and I love my mountains, and I have what I need and want here. Give me a book and a good chair and some light to read by, and I'm perfectly content.

20. How do you usually ring in the new year? If forced (how we’d do that without Judd coming to your house, if you even know who he was) to do something new, what would it be?

A. Usually we go to bed, but on occasion have gone to hear the bells ring. In my nearby town there is a tradition that goes back almost 200 years of ringing the bells of the churches and the courthouse at midnight. Revelers gather throughout the town for the celebration. The bells begin to toll at 11:45 p.m. At midnight, the Courthouse bell rings, and afterwards, at twelve second intervals, the church bells ring in a clockwise order about the town: Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal. This continues until the bell at the Courthouse strikes twelve. Somebody plays Taps to say goodbye to the old year, and then the bell-ringers in the Courthouse strike the digits of the New Year, for example two-one-six (2016). Then three shotgun blasts indicate that it is time for the bells to ring all together to welcome the New Year.

If I were to be forced to do something new by somebody named Judd (I don't know who that is), I suppose I would go sit on a mountaintop somewhere and watch the new year unfold. I prefer not to be in a crowd.

21. What have you done this summer that’s special? Pictures please.

A. I haven't done anything special this summer. But here's a picture I colored in my Lord of the Rings coloring book:

And here's a link to a recent visit to a local museum to see canning labels, if you're interested in that sort of thing. The labels are all local - in the early 1900s, this area was the tomato capital of the nation, with hundreds of little canneries, each bearing their own label. There are pictures.

22. Have you ever walked into a room with just shoes on?

A. Every morning. I cannot stand to go barefoot, so as soon as my feet are dry from my shower, I slip them into a pair of moccasins and walk around in them until I am finally dressed.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.