laura b. Prefers....

Heard it from a friend AlienCG, who heard it from a friend David in DC, who heard it from another...well anyway...i couldn't resist a meme! Please feel free to make your own choices. You know how I enjoy your choices.

Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate - Dark Chocolate...my true love. haha!
Nestle’s or Hershey or Dove or Munson…’s - Hershey, a classic.
Scotch or Bourbon or Vodka - Meh. Can I have rum then?
Road Bike or Mountain Bike or Hybrid - Road Bike.
American League or National League - National League. Dodgers! Um, but about Manny...guh.
Hitting Pitchers or Designated Hitters - Hitting pitchers!
Ketchup or Mustard - Ketchup
Ice Cream or Sorbet - Ice Cream
Downhill or X-Country - Downhill, I suppose...
Mac or Windows - Windows
Horns or Synthesizers - Both!
White Wine or Red Wine - Either. I barely know the difference.
Aisle or Window - Window!
Non-Stop or Stopover - If I ever went anywhere I'd be so excited it probably wouldn't even matter :-)
Root Beer Float or Ice Cream Soda - Root Beer Float
Creamy or Chunky - Both. They each hold a place in my peanut buttery heart.
Smoking or Non-Smoking - Non
Plane or Train - Hm. I like them both. Can I have both?
Sailboat or Motorboat - Sailboat...but I'll get seasick on either.
White Gold or Yellow Gold or Platinum - Not a big jewelry fan...but white gold or platinum would be my preference.
Rocks or Neat - Huh. In for a penny, in for a pound...neat.
Dog or Cat - Aw, hard to choose. But I will. Cat.
Candybar-style or Flip-phone - Candybar-style
Steam-room or Sauna - Either. I like getting hot.
Tea or Coffee - Coffee
Sugar or Splenda - Sugar!
Fiction or Non-Fiction - Fiction, for sure.
Burned to a Crisp or Bloody as Hell - Medium, baby, medium.
Martin & Lewis or Amos & Andy or Laverne & Shirley or Ralph & Norton - Oh, hm. Girl power...Laverne & Shirley it is.
Flats or Heels - Flats. My feet need to feel loved too.
Pants or skirts - Pants, usually.
Army or Navy - Um. Neither?
Dark Meat or White Meat - White meat
Sauce or Dry Rub - Dry Rub
Automatic or Stick Shift - Automatic
Bar Soap or Body Wash - Aaahhhh...body wash.
Set Menu or À La Carte - A La Carte
Dressed Salad or Dressing On The Side - Dressing on the side.
Cut To The Chase or Shaggy Dog Story - Shaggy Dog story! Go for it. Spin it. Let's hear it...
Long Hair or Short Hair - Long hair
Driver or Passenger - Passenger
Coder or WYSIWYG - WYSIWYG, because I'm unedumacated.
Crossword or Sudoku - Crossword.
Chess or Go or Backgammon or Cribbage - Chess, the game of Kings! Right?
Boxers or Briefs - Boxers
Now or Later - Both
Indoors or Al Fresco - Al Fresco whenever possible.
Coke or Pepsi or Seltzer - I'm a Pepper and insist on being recognized as such.
Betty or Wilma - They both creeped me out a tiny bit. Well...Wilma, I guess.
Ginger or Maryanne - Maryanne

What are your preferences?

Can You See Me Now? Gooood.

Welcome to Choose and Defend Wednesday here at "What Fresh Hell is This?" This week I was inspired by my youngest son, Handsome Lad, who has just gotten his first pair of glasses. All of my children, with the exception of the always super Social Animal, wear some form of corrective lenses. Secret Agent Man and Girlie Girl actually have really poor vision. They can thank their father for that. Social Animal, like me, has perfect vision. Yes, thank you, we are very proud of that. haha! My boys wear glasses, my daughter wears contacts.

Okay, enough of the blah, blah, blah! But it was all leading up to my question for you this week. A really easy one at that :-) For vision correction which do you prefer?

Contact Lenses
Or

Glasses

I'm sorry, I am not offering laser surgery this week. You can have contact lenses or glasses though! Maybe you use one or the other or both. Maybe you have no need. But...you have a preference. I know you do and I want to hear it. Choose and Defend!

What Kind of Fast Food Are You?

You Are a Burrito

You're not a picky person. You're able to go with the flow and really enjoy life. You have a taste for the exotic, and you're quite adventurous. You're willing to try almost anything. You're very low maintenance. You don't mind getting a bit messy if it means having fun. You aren't superficial or easily impressed. Someone has to be the real deal if they're going to impress you.

What Kind of Fast Food Are You?

Thrillingly appropriate for Cinco de Mayo! ¡Olé!

English Major Humor

These crack me up, because I was an English Major. I say "was", but once an English Major, always an English Major. It is a permanent state of mind.





Are you laughing? Do you have a joke about your education or your job or yourself in general? Share it with the group!

This Musical Message is For Fools Everywhere

Pissing the Night Away

Time for our weekly Saturday Scavenger Hunt! Many thanks to K_Sra for choosing this week's word, UP! In general, an optimistic word. Things are looking UP! Movin' on UP! I guess growing UP can be kind of a mixed bag. And pushing a boulder UP an incline for all eternity would be discouraging.

Anyway, it seemed I could only conceive of the word in the most literal sense. I just sat down at my desk, looked straight UP, and took this picture:Looking UP indoors can be very exciting...like, say you are at the Sistine Chapel. Or somewhere with a dome, or skylight, or even an interesting lighting treatment. Here, we get the tile ceiling, emergency lights, and a vent that blows frigid air directly on me at inconvenient times. Now you know better than to look UP around here :-)

Here is a loving portrait of my morning coffee. It is a real pick-me-UP. It comes from 7-Eleven, as you can plainly see...but what you can't see is that around here we call it Gucci Coffee, because it is fancy enough for us. Strictly UPper crust.

And one more...because I can hear you all asking...what about the children? Where are the children? Um, right? Well, whatever...Please enjoy Little Prince sitting UP and giving us his cutest smile. Doesn't that lift your heart UP? Yeah!

Thank you for meeting UP with me here. I always, always appreciate your visits. Have a great weekend and make sure to check with K_Sra to see who will be tagged for next week.

Friday 5 - May 1

I saw that Tara had done the Friday 5 and it looked like such a fun one that I had to join in. I hope you will feel free to as well, either on your blog or in comments :-)

1. On May First, 1738, King Kamehameha I was born. What are your impressions of Hawaii? I have never been to Hawaii. Many series like to send their characters there on vacation...I often recall the Brady's and their exciting trip. Watch out for that evil Tiki god!

2. On May First, 1873, Dr. David Livingstone died. When did you last presume something erroneous about someone or something? Wow, I wish I could say this didn't happen very often, but it actually happens all the time. It often involves my not yet fully formed self-esteem, wherein I become hurt when no harm was intended.

3. On May First, 1876, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro debuted. How do you feel about Disney’s animated classic Pinocchio? Figaro...the cat, right? Cute. I love Disney's version of Pinocchio. Recently I spent a car ride teaching my granddaughter the little song - I've got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret or make me frown. I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me! Yeah, it is our personal anthem :-)

4. May First is Walpurgis Night in Sweden and other parts of northern Europe. When did you last sing in front of an audience? Wednesday morning, twice, for my Toddler Times. They are a very kind audience because my singing voice, I assure you, is hideous.

5. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock cover band. What song’s cover version do you like better than its original version? Oooh, tough one. My first thought was Nirvana's version of Man Who Ruled the World, because it is my favorite Nirvana song. But then I listened to Bowie's version since I hadn't heard it in so long...and damn. It was hot. So...I guess I will go with Cake's version of I Will Survive trumping the Donna Summers' version. No disrespect to Ms. Summers, but the Cake version is awesome.

And there you have it. Me talking about stuff vaguely related to the fact that today is the 1st! I enjoyed it.

I'm From Joisey! Are You From Joisey?

Hey dere, youse guys! Today's Choose and Defend Wednesday came to me yesterday evening when I was watching a popular reality tv show. Since I know how y'all feel about THAT, I won't get too detailed. Let me just say that a certain era came up... and a certain singer came to mind... and then I thought of another singer who comes from the same place... and then I thought about Choose and Defend Wednesday... and that, my friends, was that. It is quite the art and / or science coming up with these!

Alright, you know the drill. Two Jersey boys made good. Which one do you prefer? Choose. Tell me why you have that preference. Defend. So who do you love?

Frank Sinatra
Or

Bruce Springsteen
So...please play along. It is Choose and Defend Wednesday and I must insist. Joisey!

Mish Mash Monday, M'kay?

Hey all. Just thought I'd throw my thoughts together for you. Hope the mash goes down smooth.

- It was gorgeous this weekend! It was almost cool, but very sunny and pretty. If you stayed out of the shade you were good. I spent most of Saturday at the park with various factions of the family. Sunday I ran fun errands with Girlie Girl and Handsome Lad. Here is Handsome Lad enjoying his pizza...Girlie Girl took this picture because she thought it was funny that they were willing to put the name he gave them on his receipt. Anyway, in the spirit of full confession there was also frozen yogurt involved in this particular day. Don't judge us too harshly, please.

- I watched two movies over the weekend.
1) Ice Storm. I've seen it before, but when I came upon it Friday night I watched it again. It is a really good movie set in 1973 and has some of my favorite actors in it. It is worth it just for the scene with Christina Ricci in a Nixon mask letting Elijah Wood rub against her in the beanbag chair. No one creates a mood like Ang Lee.
2. Yes Man. Me and Handsome Lad were sitting around Saturday night and he was checking out the Pay-Per-Views. I don't usually like to do that, but it was late and I didn't feel like going out to a Redbox and taking my chances, so we went for it. It was, you know, Jim Carrey, but in relatively restrained mode and it seemed kind of appropriate to me as the idea was that his character decided to start afresh in life by saying 'yes' to every opportunity that came along. Hijinks ensued, but you see my point, yes?

- Next weekend, Girlie Girl promised she'd stay in and watch a movie with Handsome Lad. Last time they had a big sis / little bro date we watched the remake of Prom Night. Awful. Boring! The time before that it was Friday the 13th 3D. Guh. Seeing a pattern? I'm not holding out much hope that next weekend's selection will have anything to offer me.

- I recently discovered that Subway is serving Seafood Delight again. I was a little too happy about that. And I felt low about that, but the idea of Seafood Delight with provolone cheese on Italian herbs and cheese bread raised my spirits. I couldn't stay mad at me for being happy about that. Again, I'm going to have to ask you to reserve your judgement and recall who you're dealing with here :-)

- Just wanted to share how happy Sunday nights make me. Two episodes of In Treatment (with three more on Monday!) PLUS, Breaking Bad. Oh my goodness. It is like my little reward before I have to start a new week. And PS --- True Blood returns June 16! Yay! Summer just got a little hotter, am I right? Huh? Huh? Okay, that was cheesy...but again...who's talking to you here?

- Today was my new supervisor's first day of work and the first day all of us have gotten a chance to meet her. She seems very nice and normal so far, but I haven't had much chance to really talk to her, as my former supervisor who was promoted, has been running her around. That was a run-on sentence. Oh well. My friend Milly and I will be watching her and the second she does something even remotely quirky we will be able to give her a nickname. Watch for it.

I guess that is all I can think of for my Mish Mash Monday. Let us all hope for a fine week ahead. No reason to think it won't be utterly fabulous. Um-hm.

This Musical Message is For Heat

Hot Damn, I Got an All Girl Band

What is that EXPRESSION I see on your face? It is excitment at participating in another Saturday Scavenger Hunt? I thought so! A big thanks to Jessica @ The Almost Adult for choosing this week's word - EXPRESSION.

I am not very...what is the word? Oh yes, 'decorate-y'. The focal point of my livingroom / bedroom is this:My bookcase is the best EXPRESSION in my house of who I am. Well there are a couple of kids running about too sometimes. Maybe strictly speaking they are the best EXPRESSION. But, man, I love me some books.

Love Bug and I wear the same EXPRESSION when we enjoy an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba together...mouths slightly ajar...eyes a bit glazed. I think we might be experiencing different feelings though. Just a hunch.

Here is my friend, The Activist, with his personal EXPRESSION concerning our current Overseas Contingency Operation. He sent it to me on Valentine's Day as an EXPRESSION of...again...what would the word be? Lawd, who knows? Nice EXPRESSION though.

Friday 5 - Annoyance

I decided to do a Friday 5 post today. My head would probably explode and/or collapse if I tried anything more complicated. I am feeling very...tense today for some reason. Maybe I need to not worry so much about getting "out there". Or maybe my stress is an excuse I'm using. Too complicated to untangle! :-) Truce, two sides of brain, truce! Let's do this instead....

1. What’s the most annoying sound in the world? Fingers on blackboards is a classic, but most schools don't even have blackboards anymore...they have whiteboards. I'm going to go with most people's ringtones. Some of them are groovy, more make me want to hurt someone.

2. Which of other people’s mannerisms do you find very annoying? Hm. What do people do that annoys me? Wow, maybe this wasn't a good day for Homey to play this. haha! Okay...I am annoyed when people ask me something but don't wait for an answer. Is that a mannerism? Lets say it is, alright? Good.

3. What do you do that really annoys others? Live and breath? Wah! No, uh, probably when I do my sarcasm shtick. I imagine that can be quite annoying. Just thinking about it, even I hate me :-)

4. In what way has your own behavior recently caused you annoyance? I am annoyed by my annoying tendency to overthink EVERYTHING. Gawd. Stop already.

5. Who’s the most annoying person you know? Wow, I really get to answer this? There many, many televised political pundits who annoy me. However...on a day to day level...and lets go there, shall we? On a day to day level there is a woman who works here at the library, part-time, kind of a floater, doing various tasks for people. My very special nickname for her is Foot-in-Mouth. She reminds me of a yappy chihuahua She always says the most wildly out of left field stuff to people! It is like a disease or something...then she realizes her mistake, or is made to realize it in some fashion, and slinks around like a whipped dog acting ingratiating. It is so. Annoying.

It is kind of cathartic talking about annoyances and being annoying and annoyed. This may have actually helped me. Thank goodness for blogging. And also? The word annoying makes me think of Annyong Bluth on one of my favorite shows ever, Arrested Development. And that cheers me up too. Really a win-win thing. So tell me...what annoys you? If you say my blog posts, I will cry. So pick something else. Thanks!

The Transitional Phase is the Hardest

Some of you will know what I am talking about, eh? But this isn't that exactly. I was just thinking that I am at a very transitional phase in my life. For most of my adult life, I have been a mother first and foremost. And for a good many of those years I had very little support from a partner or anyone else. I was IT for my kids. Because of their need for me to be available to them, I had to let other things go. I wasn't able to maintain many friendships outside of the pleasant, but shallow camaraderie found with the moms and dads of my children's friends.

Now, my kids are grown or getting there. I live a very different life than I did even a year ago. I could actually have an evening out! With friends! Actual friends of my choice! But you know, I was kind of out of the loop for so long that it isn't a simple matter to find a way back in. I don't have a huge number of friends, but they do exist :-) It seems like they kind of have their things though. Reasonably, I know it is easy as asking people what their plans are and if appropriate asking if I could join them. I find it hard though. I want to do it, but something holds me back.

The fact is though, that I can be a social person. I have the ability and the desire. At the moment, I can't get the pieces to fit, but I am going to keep working on it. The transitional phase is so hard. But when you think about what you get when you get through it... well, I know it is worth it. So I will keep trying to get to the person I want to be.

Give Until It Feels Good

Welcome to Earth Day! And, welcome to Choose and Defend Wednesday. I was almost going to make you give up something really big in honor of our friend, Earth. However, I decided you gave up enough last week. This week, let's just have a good time, yeah? Show the Earth we care! This week, you get to Choose something to give Earth on her special day. The second part is, of course, Defending your choice. All in? Okay.

Would you like to buy the world a Coke?
Or...

Would you like the make the world something nice with recyclables you have lying around?

Choose and Defend, fellow Earth fans! Have fun :-)

How Hot Is It?

We here in Southern California are experiencing a heat wave. How can you tell it is really, really hot? Glad you asked...

You know it is hot when...

...you start bonding with your air conditioner.
...your electric bill is higher than your rent.
...you cancel your Hotmail account because the name is unbearable.
...chickens lay fried eggs.
...the squirrels are handling their nuts with potholders.
...trees are whistling for dogs.
...you experience condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet.

This post has been brought to you by a band of hyperactive children who need cool down time in their public library. Thank you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Cameras!

We have a relative newcomer who has accepted this week's tag. She's been playing along at her blog The Almost Adult under the radar. JeSSiCa... THaTS Me!! (that's her) has chosen the word EXPRESSION. Now this is going to be interesting :-)

This Musical Message is For Passion

The Sky Is Fallin', Ain't No Need to Panic

Ain't nobody dope as me, I'm dressed so FRESH and clean. I got to pick today's word and I chose FRESH. I'm pimping my new blog title a little, but also FRESH seemed to go with the new start that Spring suggests each year. I hope you guys have enjoyed it. Here are my FRESH photos:

Yummy and gorgeous. FRESH produce. Is there anything prettier? :-)

FRESH linens. I love the feeilng of sliding in between FRESH sheets. And ah, the pleasures of a FRESH, fluffy, sweet smelling towel after a shower....

Just me and my minty FRESH breath hanging out around the sink. Where's the kiss I was promised? Oh, I heard you wrong? Oh, you were saying you wanted to come in and take a piss? Real nice. Well, come on in then, I'll get out. Geez.

That's all I have. More than enough...maybe too much? :-) Anyway, it is all FRESH content, so there is no reason you should become ill. If you do, it was an allergy, not lack of FRESHness.

I am also supposed to tag someone else and I will. Just give me a bit to poke around and see who is up for it. I will get that out to you ASAP! That is a promise. Alright. Go out and do yo funky FRESH thang!

Because I Feel Certain You Want To Know

I'm a solitary sort basically. That can lead to an active inner life, if you do it right at least! For someone like me that means that I get way too involved, mentally, with say, basic cable talk show hosts, old actors, pretend reality celebs, and soulful singers. Yes, I am talking about my current celebrity crushes. Because you must want this information, right? Now, I will admit that most of these crushes are pretty comical. And give me some credit...they are emotional, not sexual crushes...um, does that deserve credit? Let's say yes.

Without further ado, I present my most current celebrity crushes!

John StewartWe all love him...am I right, Ladies? And even guys could legitimately have a man crush. He's adorable, smart, and hilarious. *sigh*

Joel McHaleHe is so goofy and cute. And apparently completely without physical shame, which is kinda hot.

Jack KlugmanI believe I have mentioned my love for Quincy, M.E. Jack Klugman nowadays is really old. No way around it. But in his Odd Couple and Quincy days, he was a nice looking guy! He has intense eyes and a charming smile. So sue me. I like Jack.

Ty MurrayThis one is unusual even for me. I don't like cowboys, generally speaking. The man cannot dance. But he's sweet and gallant. He came on the show with his wife, Jewel, who ended up not competing...so there he is awkwardly trying to handle his professional partner like she is one of his bulls...um, yeah. I guess I kind of like that.

Ray LamontagneYes, he's got that crunchy granola look going on. But wow...have you heard him sing? Guh. He's gorgeous.

And there you have it. The most recent edition of laura b.'s lame celebrity crushes. Because everyone has them, but they just don't talk about them. Right? Right? Oh man....

Explain to Me How You Live Like This

Hey, what a week! I've been lax the last couple of days...you know that isn't like me. But of course I am here on Choose and Defend Wednesday. This is another sort of technology based question. And stems from a real curiosity that I have. I don't think of myself as terribly dependent on technologies. But that is just stupid, because I really, really am. For example, the choice I am about to pose is really tough as far as I'm concerned. Yet I bet there are a number of you who have grown to love only one...or neither of these things. And I want to hear about that! So, please, Choose and Defend. Lay it out for me.

If you could have only one of the following, which would you Choose? And then, tell me about your choice and what it means to you. Defend.

Cell Phone
Or

Cable / Satellite Television

I will admit it. I love them both. Or let us say, I have become dependent on them both. The choice is tough. For some of you it is easy, I'm sure. So tell us about it. Choose and Defend!