Wednesday, January 9, 2008

8 Things Meme

8 Things I’m passionate about:
1. Fly Guy
2. History Girl
3. Horse Girl
4. Swimming
5. Russian History
6. Russian Politics
7. Chocolate
8. Reading



8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Take Fly Guy to Russia
2. Go to the Summer Olympics
3. Go to Alaska
4. take a train trip across the US
5. take a train trip across Russia Doesn't that just look like fun?
6. swim an ocean race
7. do an Olympic length Tri
8. write a book



8 Things I say often:
1. Awesome
2. That is too bad
3. Just be quiet for a bit
4. I love you
5. If I have to tell you again you are going to the office
6. What number are you?
7. Can you write a short story on the back?
8. Have you done your homework?



8 books I’ve read recently
1. Einstein By Jurgen Neff
2. Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
3. Teaching is a Learning Experience: A For Better or For Worse Collection by Lynne Johnson
4. Incident at Sakhalin by Michal Bruns
5. Putin’s Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy by Anna Politkovskaya
6. Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the End of Revolution by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
7. Inside Putin’s Russia: Can There be Reform without Democracy by Andrew Jack
8. A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches From Chechnya by Anna Politkovskaya




8 Songs I can listen to over and over:
1. Visions of the Night by The Police
2. Through the Long Night by Billy Joel
3. Sugar Magnolia by Greatful Dead
4. Me & Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin
5. Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith
6. I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle by Bessie Smith
7. Green Suede Shoes by Black 47
8. De Do Do Do De Da Da Da Da by The Police

(in reality I can listen to most of the song by The Police over and over again without a problem, but I did not just want to make a list of their songs. ;-) )



8 things that attract me to my best friends:
1. Knowledge of Russian History
2. Humor
3. listens
4. Able to keep up with me swimming
5. Intelligent
6. Gives good advice
7. Fun to be with
8. Able to bounce ideas off of


8 People who should TOTALLY do this meme

Any 8 random people who feel like they want to waste their time this way. ;-)

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Privilege

Update: this actually has a copyright
This blog-game is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University as reported by Quaker and Social Class. The exercise developers hold the copyright and ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.


1. Father went to college - a BA and two MAs

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college - a BA

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

9. Were read children’s books by a parent

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 - ballet, percussion, swim lessons, a member of a swim club

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs - I think they did....I am not 100% sure...I took out student loans, but I know my parents paid for a bunch also.

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

16. Went to a private high school

17. Went to summer camp - I went to a Summer Camp program run by the town I lived in, which was a day camp....

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels - not every year, but often enough

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - Well my mother made a lot of my clothing, in the 1970s she loved working with valour it was quite entertaining ;-)

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child. - I had no idea that you could have copies of artwork until I was in college....I thought copies were just used in art apresation courses...ok I was a bit slow figuring that one out

23. You and your family lived in a single family house - Yes it was designed and built for my family

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home - well they owned the mortgage ;-)

25. You had your own room as a child - I had to share a room with my brother between the ages 4 and 6 years old because our house was being built and we shared a room until our bed rooms were done....our shared room ended up being the dining room.

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18. - but not my own number

27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course

28. Had your own TV in your room in High School

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 - then when I was 16 I traveled in the Soviet Union with people from my after school Russian Class.

31. Went on a cruise with your family.

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. - Yes they took me to a lot of them and then they also took me to botanical gardens...the museums were ok....the botanical gardens wanted me to poke my eyes out. Vacations in my family were not for the kids at all....no kid like things...adult museums and botanical gardens. I think I have rebeled from that. Most all of my vacations now center around kid things.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.