"Into each generation a Blogger is born..."

Just checking. Who all is still here? 

1. I am a staunch homebody. My husband and I have all of our toys here, where we can get at them, so we don't have to drive other places and pay to get in to be entertained.

2. I have an obsession with older men, and have since I was a teenager. These include Anthony Stewart Head, Peter Davison, Sean Connery, Rutger Hauer, Richard Dean Anderson, and Sylvester McCoy primarily.

3. I have a bicep fetish. I love nicely toned arms, and I don't care whether they're on a male or a female. ;-) Examples include Madonna, Linda Hamilton in the Terminator movies, Jamie Bamber ("Apollo" on the new Battlestar Galactica series), Katee Sackhoff ("Starbuck" on BSG), and the guy who plays Jason Stackhouse on "True Blood". Oh. My. God. ;-)

4. I have a ridiculous amount of music in my possession, as I am a total music freak. I used to know millions of useless facts about the groups I listened to but it gets harder to keep up with them all now that I'm 41.

5. I have an obsession with lava lamps. I could literally decorate my entire house with them. And other forms of indirect lighting, actually, which leads to:

6. Neon lighting. Same as above.

7. My interior decorating taste seems to be stuck between the 80s and 90s and includes abstract, geometric, and contemporary facets. This, as you can all imagine, leads to terrible indecision as to how to decorate our house, which is why:

8. Two years after moving in, our new house is still almost entirely undecorated. Mostly this is because it took us almost a year to find a renter for our old house, so we didn't have the extra money to decorate, but now it's pretty much down to laziness. ;-)

9. I am extremely proficient at spelling and grammar, and have a tendency (whether unreasonable or not) to look down on others who are not. I can't help it, though. Everywhere you look I could show you examples of why the world needs more proofreaders.

10. I have no children nor have I ever wanted them. And thank whichever deity you prefer that I had the sense to know that *ahead of time*. However, I love animals and treat my pets with the kind of love and respect most people reserve for their children.

11. I am a musician, and taught myself to play guitar by ear. I can play 6 or 12-string guitar, some bass, keyboards by ear, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and have recently taught myself to play the spoons, a la Sylvester McCoy (and Peter Davison, as well!) I also sing, and my voice is well suited to folksy/acoustic rock like the Indigo Girls.

12. I am completely physically and psychologically addicted to (soda) pop. My absolute favorite is Berries 'n Cream diet Dr Pepper, although they've evidently stopped making that so I have to settle for the Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper. My entire fridge could be empty but I don't start to freak out until the pop is gone.

13. If it hadn't been for the X-Files, I would never have met my husband. Online. (He lived in Scotland at the time.)

14. I am a huge geek girl. Have been since grade school, when all the other girls were worrying about makeup and clothes, and I was hanging out with the 'smart' but geeky guys who were into Star Trek. I just found one of them here on FB, and we are an almost perfect intellectual match in Lexulous :-)

15. Literally 90% of my life revolves around the internet, for better or for worse.

16. I can be a horrible pack rat at times and have collections of many things ranging from bubble gum cards to action figures (I have a 12" Giles from Buffy figure on my desk as we speak, and an already impressive collection of Doctor Who figures. These are not counting the ones from Angel, Babylon 5, Deep Space 9, and SeaQuest DSV!

17. I don't at all mind the fact that I'm going gray; I just wish that it would come in in stripes on each side or something really cool like that instead of the salt and pepper thing that I've got going on. Also, in order to see my gray, I have to leave my hair its natural color, which I detest. That's the main reason I color it.

18. I can be completely physically disabled by the sight of something small and cute. Add whiskers for bonus points. Small and cute is my Kryptonite.

19. Right now my most prized possession is my 'baby laptop', my Acer Aspire netbook. It takes cute and compact to a completely new level while retaining total geek points.

20. About every two of three hours I have to go find my kitty and kiss her. This is mandatory. :-)

21. I have a huge thing for accents--particularly Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and some English. David Tennant's voice is just drop-dead gorgeous IMO.

22. Despite my best intentions, I am horrendously lazy.

23. I'm a great big tomboy, and have been all my life.

24. I'm all for spirituality, but religion scares the hell out of me.

25. Howard Jones' album "Revolution of the Heart" rocks my world in an almost unrivaled way. I have a minor religious experience every time I listen to the song "For You See Me".

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Doctor Who/Torchwood crossover cat macro goodness!

http://community.livejournal.com/ihasatardis/1789892.html

Ceiling Doktah!  (That picture of David Tennant is just hilarious! He's just such a big, goofy fanboy, isn't he?)

Ok, so who all is on FaceBook that I can add to my friends? I've got JennKitty, Flaim, Oberon, Tamouse, zem, Beki, Eleri, BassBone, Murrlin, Rikhei, Elfi, McTavish, and Wookiee.
Oh, and I play Scrabulous, and am looking for new people I can play games with!

I really like FaceBook, I first made a profile because a few of my cousins were on there and now I can see what's going on with them by their status messages, etc. Although I have to say it's totally like crack for us ADDers ;-)  But hey, fun is fun!

Let me know if you're on FB and by what name, and I hope to see you there :-)  I'm Beth Orr.

I decided that I'd make note of some of the things that make me happy, just so that when I get into one of those moods where I'm feeling less than blessed, I'll have something I can look at to remind me of just what it is that I do have.


1. My (immediate) Family. My husband James and our kitty Freya. Freya is a constant source of joy for me, and I truly believe that haveing an animal is a priveledge, not a right. My husband is a source of many more things, not all of them joy, but most of them at least pleasant. ;-) He is constantly catching me off-guard with the way he sees and hears things, he's cuddly and he makes me laugh. We're together pretty much 24/7 and I don't think I know any other married couples who can truly say the same without going nuts.

2. My Computer. Never in a million years did I expect that it would become such an intrinsic part of my life. I literally can't remember much of what I did without it, although reading and playing guitar do come to mind. I am now able to keep in better contact with my family than I ever could before, I can call friends and family who are even overseas for next to nothing, and I can meet people from all over the world who share my interests. For all of the negative things the internet can offer, for me it truly is my main social outlet. Being homebodies like we are, we wouldn't have the opportunity to meet many people so it works out just perfectly for us.

3. Memory Foam Pillows. If anything can make you feel like royalty, for me, it's sleeping on a memory foam pillow and/or mattress pad. After sleeping most of my life on either old or cheap mattresses, one thing I have learned as I've gotten older is the value of being *really* comfortable when I'm sleeping. When you're young, you don't stop and think how nice it is to wake up without a stiff neck or a sore back, but believe me, with birthday 40 barely two weeks away, I know it now.

4. My Toys. This is an example of how different my generation is from my parents'. My parents never had any toys. I mean, not as 'adults'. Whereas me, I've purchased action figures within the past 2 months, and have been buying shelving to properly display them. Mostly they are a hodgepodge of science fiction figures from shows such as Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and even from SeaQuest DSV. And those don't even include my collection of 'realistic' stuffed animals, funky sunglasses, lava lamps, indirect/neon/black lights and black light reactive items. I have an entire room dedicated to MY stuff, and hopefully someday I will be able to implement the majority of my toys within it so that I can view them all and bask in the happiness they give me.

5. My Music. This is a huge, all-encompassing category that contains my cds, cassettes, LPs, mp3s, and musical instruments. Music has been, for as long as I can remember, one of the most important things in my life. Nothing else seems to be able to affect me as profoundly, and I simpley couldn't imagine a life without music. The friends I have chosen feel the same way, which is why we get along so well.

6. My Friends. I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have met very interesting people. I've never really fit into a particular social group, which gave me the ability to make friends from many different groups. But nowhere did I find such lasting friendships as the ones I found in college. Maybe it's because in school you're sort of forced to be with other kids that are in your grade, and you find people from out of that group to be friends with, whereas in college you are free to seek out *specifically* the kind of people who interest you and share your interests. All I know is, the best friends I have are such that they get along with my *other* friends, because they are all basically cut from the same cloth. And even though we may be separated by distance, that is a bond that never really goes away.

7. Soda Pop. Sweet mother of GOD I love pop! If I could, I'd have a soda fountain filled with Berries and Cream Diet Dr. Pepper installed in my kitchen. I'm not huge on chocolate, like many people are, but oh my god, when I get to 3 cans or less left in the fridge, I literally start to panic. I would rather go without food than go without my pop.
I know, I know. I'm sick. I need help.

But everybody has their weaknesses, right?

Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Moya (Farscape) You are surrounded by muppets. But that is okay because they are your friends and have shown many times that they can be trusted. Now if only you could stop being bothered about wormholes. Moya (Farscape) 88% Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) 88% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 88% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 81% Serenity (Firefly) 75% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 69% SG-1 (Stargate) 69% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 25%

...with whom I've also fallen completely and obsessively in love with. I found this today and I echo every sentiment of this girl's letter. It is a bit long, but if you're a Doctor Who or David Tennant fan, a good read. I hope she *did* send it to him.

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Whilst browsing the specialty liquor store that we now live just down the street from last night (yes, we *browse* for booze!) ;-) I found something that sounded SOOO good I just had to try them. They are Mint Chip Maltballs. The description on the package is: "Crispy maltballs encased in dark chocolate and a mint-cookie coating". Being a huge fan of Whoppers (the candy, not the burger, in this case) you can only imagine how good these sounded. And I must say...one of the nicest little treats I've allowed myself in a long time.

On Friday my best friend Dan and I went shopping for some groceries and other stuff for the house, but near the Taco Bell we stopped at for food there was a Fashion Bug, so we stopped in since that's one of the few places I can actually find plus-size clothes. I can usually find something that will fit me, however I usually end up paying more for that privelege. We didn't find much there, but there was also a T.J. Maxx and a Lane Bryant in the same strip mall, so we hit each of those, too. I was just about ready to give up when Dan and I both locked onto a cool pair of capri-length jeans. Now, since I have such short legs, shorts tend to be closer to capri length on me and capris end up being closer to 'normal' length for me, whereas 'normal' length pants end up something like footie pajama bottoms on me. Anyway, these capris were denim and actually had a rolled up cuff which you could either keep rolled up that way (they have little bolts on the side to keep them there) or rolled down as jeans. They just happened to be in my size, and they were $39.99, which is normally way more than I'd pay for one item of clothing (usually shop at the Salvation Army on a take-things-as-you-find-them basis) but as Dan pointed out, I NEVER buy anything at full price so I shouldn't feel bad about spending more to have a nice pair that actually fit me right. They ended up fitting, and after I found out when I went up to pay for them they were also 30% off, and if I applied for a Fashion Bug card (which I likely will probably never use) I could get an additional 10% off. So they ended up costing me only $22, and they can either be long shorts or jeans, so they're dual-purpose :-)

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As I sit here now, there is the distinct buzzing of our brand new electric lawn mower as my husband wrestles with it for the first time. I smell burning. I tell him he needs to raise the blades because he is burning it right down to the ground and will kill it. Usually it would be me doing that type of thing, but this getting older thing is not being kind to my body. Nor is the being overweight thing. But regardless, I've had to delegate the majority of the manual labor to dear hubby, who is a computer geek, not the handyman type. (Although he can build a mean Sauder bookshelf or desk!) ;-)  We have bought 2 tall 5-shelf and one smaller 2-shelf bookshelves for the new house so we FINALLY have enough storage space for all of our books and DVDs. We vowed that we were going to keep clutter to a minimum here, the first step of which entails having enough storage options/surfaces for the stuff that is most important to us. The bed box we got has 3 drawers in each side, which provides extra storage options beyond the dresser and closet. In our old house, the clutter was worst in our bedroom, and clothes and laundry got stacked on top of laundry baskets, then more clothes got draped over those, until there was a huge pile from which we dressed ourselves. It was incredibly daunting to think of trying to sort through it all, which led to feeling depressed because it had gotten so bad, which...well, I'm sure I don't have to go any further. I know I'm not the only one who's experienced that particular cycle. But hey--that's what this new house thing is going to do for us, dammit...it's going to set us free from the clutter!  Right? ;-)

The other day I got an ION keyboard in the mail after having seen one of the commercials on tv. I have been wanting a backlit keyboard since before I even knew it was possible to do--and now I have one!  It also comes with a mouse and mousepad with 4 USB hub in it, all of which was plug and play. I paid a bit more for it than I probably would have under normal circumstances, but as someone in #callahans pointed out to me, if I've wanted it forever, then it's NOT an impulse buy. :-)

Oh, lordy...I just looked out the back window and there are strips of grass in between the 'rows' he's mowed that he missed...and he's all like, "it's good enough". argh. It looks like a 10 year old did it.

If you want something done right...

Edit: I have since shown him the practice of overlapping the rows (in the front and side yard) and he has just gone back (on his own accord) to go over the back yard again. Success! :-)