Falling behind on memes . . .

[rhd323]

First one, tagged by senatorsfan

Guilt	What is yours?	Explain yourself
Culinary:	Baking. Anything sugary.	My urges to bake used to be by the calendar (the week before that week), but now I find baking comforting. It's rare, but when I really need a pick me up, sometimes the only that will cure it is baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies or cupcakes with some yummy frosting on them (mostly so I can eat the frosting off the spoon while waiting for the cupcakes to bake).
Literary:	Hm. I often feel like any non-academic book I read is 'guilt'.	There is always more I can read, academically, which is why every non-academic book feels like I'm cheating. Science Fiction. Douglas Adams is serious literary comfort food for me.
Audiovisual:	Sex and the City.	No question. Serious guilty pleasure - I can watch them over, and over again. And never get bored. The episodes make me laugh, cry, feel warm and fuzzy, and so on. Call it pathetic if you want, but 'tis true.
Musical:	INXS	Another guilty pleasure of mine. But come on, they had to be popular for a reason, didn't they? Few songs can perk up my mood like "Suicide Blonde", "Need You Tonight", or "Beautiful Girls." No joke.
Celebrity:	Oh boy. Of late it's been Hugh Laurie. Or Michael C. Hall.	I can't help it. Older, dark, scruffy men. Yum.

Now I tag:-

breakinyourmind hollow_warrior jessacord llellewyn and shark_girl


to complete this same Quiz, Its HERE.

interviewed by cute_lil_me82,
1. Whats one political issue that you feel very strongly about and would defend strongly?
Same-sex marriage. Or any LGBT rights, really. But over the last few years it's really been the relationship, marriage issue for me. It's the focus of my research and has evolved into a political and social issue I care really deeply about.

2. What is your dream job?
Whew. This is a toughy. I guess I'll answer it practically. A tenure-track university professor (eventually with tenure, after 5 years or so) at a research institution, making a decent salary, in a friendly, collegial department that is supportive of research and conference going, somewhere in the Northeast - preferably NY or MA.

3. If you had $100,000 and could give it to any one charity, what would it be?
You know, this is a tougher question than I thought it would be. I have to say, I would probably donate it an animal related charity. Either my local Humane Society or a local rescue shelter.

4. Are you happy with your life now? Whats one thing you would change?
Hey, that's two questions! ;) Um, I don't know. I am not unhappy with it, per se. I'm sort of in the midst of a rough spell - my health has absolutely sucked the last several months, I'm going through some painful, dramatic relationship changes, and I live much further from my family than I wish I did. But, objectively, I suspect life is good. When it comes down to it, even on my worst days, I am lucky enough to pursue the career I want in a fabulous city. If I could, I would remove all of the middle states so traveling between coasts wouldnt be such a hassle.

5. What is your comfort food?
Oh my. Carbohydrates. Say it with me. Carb-o-hy-drates. Make me a giant bowl of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and you have one comforted Shauna. :)




interviewed by senatorsfan,
1) What does your username mean?
Well, I started my journal in January 2002 (man, I missed my fifth year anniversary!). At the time, I was going to school and working as a barista at an independent coffee shop in the area. I worked quite a bit at that time, occasionally was left to run the store, I roasted the coffee, and absolutely loved the job. Since I'm so terribly non-creative when it comes to things like naming journals and so forth, baristababe was the first thing I could come up with.

2) Where in the heck did you get such beautiful cats? *huggles them*
Haha. I have to admit, I feel lucky. I got Hermione at the Elliot Bay Animal Shelter a week after I moved out to Seattle - she was my mom's moving present for me. She said it made her feel better knowing she wasn't leaving me completely. I made my mom and sister visit the shelter first and pick out a furball for me (I'm a mess in those places and there was no way I would have been able to come home with a single cat). After she did, I joined them and before Erin (sister) got to show me the cat she'd originally picked out for me, we spotted Hermione (at the time she was Winter, I believe). Took her out of her cage and she was so scared, poor little thing. There was no way I was putting her back, so that was that.

I got Maynard, sort of by chance, at Animal Talk Rescue shelter in May. I like to think he picked me. I had gone to the shelter to check out another cat with a friend of mine and there he was - the little beast flirted like crazy with me. I left and came back a few more times over the next few days and always, whenever he spotted me in front of his cage, he would come up to the window and meow, roll over, paw at the glass, and so on. How could I resist? :) (Damn, that was long winded, sorry.)

3) Favourite book?
Ah, there are so many! I'd have to say Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'll never tire of reading it. Every time I pick it up again, I catch something I hadn't before. It's clever, hysterical, witty, brilliant . . .

4) Favourite thing to do in your free time?
Read fiction, watch TV or movies with my cats, shop (which I'm trying to cut back on), have coffee/beers with friends.

5) What's on your iPod, if you have one? If not, what's in your CD player?
Um, I have two iPods, so I won't list everything. On the newer one . . . Every studio album Ani Difranco has released along with some of her bootlegs, lots of DMB, some Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Snow Patrol, Damien Rice, the Beatles, all of Aimee Mann's albums, Fiona Apple, Imogen Heap, John Butler Trio, Gin Blossoms, KT Tunstall, Jonatha Brooke, Sarah McLachlan, Matt Nathanson, Matt Wertz, Mike Doughty, Soul Coughing, Neko Case, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Tegan & Sarah, Tracy Bonham, Tristan Prettyman, Jason Mraz . . .



And now for the instructions, where you all come in :) :
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or not so creepy/personal.
3. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Comments

I'll play!

[jessacord.livejournal.com]

Interview me!

Re: I'll play!

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

I'm so delayed. Bad LJ'er.

Let's see how creative I can be (if they're lame, forgive me - at least they'll be easier to answer!) . . .

1) What does your perfect day look like?
2) If you could have dinner with one person, anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
3) Stuck on a desert island, but you can have one book, one CD, and one movie with you - what do you bring? (Okay, it's one of those desert islands, with electricity, I suppose.)
4) Why are you a big 'D' Democrat?
5) You've just come in to $20,000 (lottery? inheritence?), what do you do with it?

Re: I'll play!

[jessacord.livejournal.com]

I had to chew on some of the answers to this one....so here we go.

1. A good night of sleep, waking up and feeling rested and optimistic. Getting a really good workout in, where I feel strong and capable (and especially where I beat everyone!). Coming home to cook a really good meal (where I don't have to run out and buy any ingredients I've forgotten) and share it with Neal, followed by spending some time outside in the sunshine.

2. I would have dinner with my grandma, who passed away a year and a half ago. I would ask her what she did to get through the Japanese occupation in the Philippines, how she was able to flee with her children and remain optimistic that she would one day see her husband again -- she didn't see him for nearly five years while he was fighting the Japanese. I would ask how she avoided or escaped the camps that the Japanese set up. What was it like to come to America? How did she not become bitter? I would want to hear all the details of her life, the ones I didn't get to hear, especially the minutiae.

3. I don't know that I could ever bring just one book, CD and movie but my CD of choice would probably be something by U2 from the 80's or early 90's. I just loved Achtung Baby but I loved all of their earlier stuff too. The book would most likely be 'The Secret Life of Bees' for its chronicling of the changes in America shortly after the signing of the Voting Rights Act. I've always been fascinated by the political and cultural changes that occurred during the late 1950's and early to mid 1960's but the rural and suburban ripples were always the most interesting to me. I have so many favorite movies I'd have to think my choice, but 'Without Limits,' the story of Steve Prefontaine ranks among one of my top choices.

4. I am a Democrat because I believe that America is and should be the land of opportunity. It was for my parents, who are immigrants, and it remains that for me. We are what so many millions fight for and dream of, yet never even see. We are hope, freedom and opportunity. I love the America that my parents idealized when they came here. There was an abundance of opportunities for anyone who was willing to work hard and learn and that was simply one of the most reliable ways to find a better life. Going to a good school, working hard to get into college and then completing college isn't even a reliable possibility for many people the way it used to be. Our schools are failing us. Financial aid is increasingly hard to get and the wages that middle class Americans -- college educated or not -- earn are stretching thinner and thinner. America today suffers from poverty of hope because the opportunities that used to exist are dwindling and the most obvious place I can point to as an example is in our schools. I dare the president to visit one of the schools in Detroit and tell then tell me that 'No Child Left Behind' is working. It simply isn't. I don't think that the playing field needs to be even, but it needs to be fair. Democrats are inclusionary and Republicans are exclusionary and extends to their social policies. I could go on and on, but I don't want to hijack this thread. :o)

5. This one's easy: pay off all of my remaining debt and then save/invest the rest so I can one day buy the house of my dreams.

Re: I'll play!

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

Great answers. Thank you for answering them so thoroughly . . . Your grandmother sounds like an amazing woman. I would love to be able to ask someone like her those same questions.

And bravo on number 4.

[wyntermoonwolf.livejournal.com]

Don't forget your towel!

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[wyntermoonwolf.livejournal.com]

The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas/dp/0517599244/sr=1-1/qid=1169453032/ref=sr_1_1/104-8932396-3091968?ie=UTF8&s=books)

The 42 Puzzle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:42Puzzle.jpg)

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

Damn, that reminded me that once upon a time, I owned that book. I wonder whatever happened to it . . . ? Probably at the parents', buried in some box somewhere . . .