(no subject)

[viedma]

After a big flurry of stupid, I think I am, mostly, maybe, kinda sorta caught up with most of my work today.

<.<

>.>

Gracious.

That means I'm in a chatty mood.

It's time for the Ask Me Anything! meme.

I don't think I've ever done one of these. (It has been seven years and counting on LJ though, so who knows.) Of course, just because you ask me something doesn't necessarily mean you'll get an answer to it, but I'll do my best unless I think it's mind-bogglingly personal or summat. Fannish opinions, library stuff, what's good to read, Packers? anything.

...

I'm not even sure anyone has any burning questions to ask me. This could be met with dead air which would be really embarrassing.

Comments

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Zofy Katt wanted me to ask you if you're gonna eat that.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Yes honey, you can has all the corms you want. ::pets::

But you cannot eat the I Has a Corm hamster (http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/02/12/i-has-a-corm/), honey, because then Mommys would be :(

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

OKAY I WONT EAT HEEM MOMY BUT ONLEE FORR U DO I MAEK THIS GRATE SACRIFISE

[viedma.livejournal.com]

We love you, little Soffers!

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

YAY I LOVES BACK

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Do you have any aspirin?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I have Burt's Bees Champagne Sheen lipgloss, one lonely nighttime sinus pill, a date planner, a notebook, cell phone, AAA battery, mp3 player, address book, one full diet pepsi, but sadly no aspirin.

:(

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

:(

It's okay. I found some in my drawer. It's probably not expired, either.

[traveller.livejournal.com]

is it five yet?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in the world, yes.

[traveller.livejournal.com]

i had a client at 9:30 who was wearing three days worth of cologne; at 1:30 i took just one benadryl and now at nearly 4:30 i feel as though my head is a balloon stuffed with cotton, and the rest of me feels a bit woobly as well.

what do you prescribe?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Probably a lie down as soon as I got home, and a sniff of something palate-cleansing like lemon juice.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I don't know. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

[executrix.livejournal.com]

WE ASK THE QUESTIONS HERE!

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Ah-hah! But I never said I couldn't ask questions in turn. :)

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

BECAUSE POE WROTE ON BOTH!

[antennapedia.livejournal.com]

The military: tell me a story.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Remember all the stuff that Riley & Co. did in The Initiative? I didn't do any of that. My experience of the military was more like Torchwood without all the fancy gadgets and twice as much fucking. With 9 to 5 hours, letting me do stuff like teach English as a Second Language at nights, take library science classes, and discover fandom. And Vali. :D

I did end the lives of a lot of guinea pigs and rats during my time in the Army, sadly. (Purely work-related, not out of some kind of vendetta.) Over time it's led me to be a bit weird about animals now and to eat them as little as possible.

If I'd had a brain in my head, when they asked me if I wouldn't mind working with animals when I first arrived at my first duty station, I would've replied with an emphatic oh hell yes I would.

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

My experience of the military was more like Torchwood without all the fancy gadgets and twice as much fucking.

O_O Torchwood levels of incompetence?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Torchwood levels of incompetence?

Perhaps I have oversold it-- occasionally Torchwood *has* been able to get stuff done. o.O

I think the media's fantasy of the military is way more interesting than the organization itself. (300, anyone?) The best portrayal I've ever seen of the military was in the movie Lone Star (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905/). It's an okay movie (I need to see it again, it's been ages), but the Army guys in there are actually depicted as real people and not musclebound automatons.

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

What's the worst recreational drug experience you ever had? (We can include booze in this too - it is an intoxicant, after all.)

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Without a doubt the time I dropped acid and watched Naked Lunch in the theater, and having to stay in the creepy place after the last show while the bf cleaned up.

"See that projection booth, Mary? A guy had a heart attack in there. I think."

Followed closely by the time I got salmonella poisoning from a Kalua & creme. I stopped home every 2 miles to barf, and every 20 minutes the whole weekend.

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

You dropped acid and watched Naked Lunch? The people on the screen are performing a trip for you - wouldn't that be like a double negative? Like the trip would reverse the normal/weird polarity and the movie would come across like an episode of The Monkees or something. Not that The Monkees couldn't be pretty damn disturbing.

I bet the parrot cage scene wigged your shit out, huh?

What is it with you two and food poisoning, huh?

"It's a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG."

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

"What is it with you two and food poisoning, huh?"

We're very delicate and require rose and jasmine shortbread to survive. (And I keep trying to get her to watch NL sober, it being one of my favorite movies ever made, and she keeps saying no.)

Re: "It's a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG."

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

If she'll watch it, I will strongly consider sending you guys an experimental violet version of the cookies as soon as I can find a viable source of candied violets.

Re: "It's a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG."

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I just extracted a Solemn Promise from her to do so on the basis of this lovely bribe.

Re: "It's a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG."

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

Grrr - I am trying to locate a source for violet extract intended for culinary rather than medicinal use. I'm having no luck, but lots of frustration. Grrr!

There is a French company called Hediard that makes a line of flower preserves, including Orange Blossom, Jasmine, Rose, and Violet, but the extract would be a better alternative.

There's a place called Terra Spice in Walkerton, IN that supplies it, but apparently only to the food industry, as there is no online ordering option. Yi!

Re: &quot;It&#39;s a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG.&quot;

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know violet extract had any medicinal purposes--I've seen candied violets for sale, but never the extract itself.

Re: &quot;It&#39;s a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG.&quot;

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

The reason you don't see if for sale is that nobody in the US makes or sells it, apparently, though it is common enough in French cooking to pop up in several recipes, including a cookie recipe in Chocolate and Zucchini. I think I'm going to break down and order the artificial stuff. I hope it doesn't taste all soapy.

Oh, and a six ounce bag of candied violets? $50. Eek! Thus going the extract route, since I'm sure the recipe would consume at least $20 worth of violets at that rate.

Re: &amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG.&amp;quot;

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Fifty dollars? Even Virginia in all her flower-consuming fervor would never pay that much. Gracious.

Re: &quot;It&#39;s a Kafka high. You feel like a BUG.&quot;

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

Oh, and as for the medicinal uses, I read on one site that it appears to have aspirin-like compounds in it, as well as being useful for cough, and possibly as an anti-cancer agent. Another site summarizes the uses like this:

Today Violet is still used as a cough remedy, and as a treatment for bronchitis and upper respiratory catarrh. This plant is also used for treating skin conditions such as eczema and rheumatism. It can be effective in healing internal ulcers, tumors, swollen glands, and abscesses. Blue Violet has a reputation in India of being an anti-cancer herb.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

I dropped acid and watched Naked Lunch in the theater

I don't know whether to be impressed or horrified. I think both, like a hallucinogenic Torchwood.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I remember having a little tiny freakout in the theatre, realizing Burroughs probably *did* feel he was typing on a bug while he was writing Naked Lunch.

Remember in Time Chasers, where Crow asks 80s Mike, "Exactly when in the future do you become Not Stupid?" That was me!

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

Worst song in existence according to you?*


*DO NOT SAY "WINTEREISSE."

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Probably the Faith Hill cover of "Another Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin. It made me want to die.

(I don't think I've heard Wintereisse, but I'm a bit of a lunk.)

[robanybody.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank Christ it wasn't just me who hated that version and wanted to shun Faith Hill for ever covering it!

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure who Faith Hill is, but I am prepared to hate anybody who fucks up a Joplin cover with a fiery passion.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

She's some country singer I made the unfortunate mistake of listening to while I was channel-surfing between CDs on my annual road trip back to Virginia. Radios aren't good for anything anymore, are they?

[robanybody.livejournal.com]

What are your duties at your job? And would you recommend it if I said I wanted to do what you do?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I probably have the best job in my library. I'm in charge of displays, bibliographies, and pathfinders (pamphlets listing what we have on a particular subject, usually with web links and community resources). I also send books to the senior centers and do a little outreach to them, and run a mystery book club and write an article for our library newsletter once a month. It's a great gig because my library gives me a wide berth to do what I need to do, and to create the booklists on whatever subject I choose.

I would recommend it 1000%, especially if I thought you had designs in that area. :) But it's tough for my library at the moment-- our county is in the middle of a giant property tax debacle where big business is getting lots of tax breaks, thus shifting the burden mainly onto homeowners, who are dismayed at how much their taxes have gone up for the most part. (Like I said, we can't ask Our Overlords, BP and Mittal Steel, to pay their fair share of taxes.) So right now, if nothing changes, our library loses half its operating budget in the next two years, and that's the best case scenario. I'm hoping that things will change and am writing letters to our state legislators, but sometimes it's a little nerve-wracking.

[robanybody.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds so lovely. I really hope that letter-writing and common sense will keep your operating budget as is.

I have been thinking about studying Library Sciences and becoming a librarian, but I'm not sure about job availability in Toronto or Ottawa right now. I'm still researching it, but I think it would be the kind of job where I actually love what I do.

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

I gotcher postcard!

What kind of pie is the best?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that totally depends on one's mood, doesn't it? But if you made me choose right now I'd say for sweet an open face mixed berry pie with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, and for savory a "chicken" seitan pie with chickpea gravy and lots of peas, carrots, garlic, and caramelized onions. yum!

[simplelyric.livejournal.com]

What's one of your earliest happy memories? If that's problematic, I'll ask something else.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

No, that's a neat question, I don't think I've answered that before. Probably my earliest happy memory is the time where my parents surprised me and my brother with little toy cars we could ride around in and push pedals and everything. Mine was a red plastic convertible style and my brother's was a metal 50s car with fins. We can so much fun running into each other and laughing, and i remember my parents being happy too. It was grand.

[simplelyric.livejournal.com]

It does sound like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing that!