castiron | Entries tagged with meme

Via

smallhobbit, a look at my AO3 stories:

1. Most Hits: Not Yet Dead. A Sherlock Holmes ACD/BBC crossover in which Sherlock is trying to solve the mystery of the original Holmes's death and begins to suspect that he may be Holmes's reincarnation.

2. Second Most Kudos: For Science. Sherlock/Anderson, written for the sheer challenge of it.

3. Third Most Comments: A Study in Squawking. The story I wrote after having a dream that BBC Sherlock was a parrot talking to a psychiatrist; on waking, I found the psychiatrist part harder to believe than the parrot part.

4. Fourth Most Bookmarks: For Science.

5. Fifth Most Words: Ann Arbor. Crossover between Cabin Pressure and Ghostbusters (2016), written in all-dialog format.

6. Fic With Second Fewest Words (That's Not a Drabble): Agincourt. A Cabin Pressure parody of Henry V's Agincort speech.

7. Seventh Most Common Relationship: n/a -- I only have four works with a relationship tag.

8. Eighth Drabble Posted: n/a -- I've never written a drabble.

9. Ninth Most Common Character: Abby Yates from Ghostbusters 2016. (Although technically she's in a several-way tie for third most common, but she's ninth on the list.)

10. Tenth Mature and/or Explicit Fic: n/a; I only have four.

11. Eleventh Most Recent Completed Fic: Cookie's Country. Cookie Monster hosts a cooking show.

12. Twelfth Most Recent Story in Your Sixth Most Common Tag: n/a; there's only two. This meme is clearly geared towards more prolific ficcers.

13. Favorite Title That Isn't from a Poem or Song or Shakespeare or The West Wing: Gamol-léac, a retelling of the Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" commercials.

→ Comment with "Questions, please!"
→ I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
→ Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
→ Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

From

troisoiseaux:

1. What is your favorite hobby? Is there a hobby you'd like to try, but haven't?

The #1 spot cycles between various yarny crafts and genealogy. Knitting and spinning satisfy the urge to do something with my hands; genealogy gives me the satisfaction of doing a combined logic puzzle and scavenger hunt.

I'd like to learn to play trumpet. I've played piano and clarinet, and had a year of violin as a kid, but I've never learned a brass instrument.

2. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be?

Jacob Englebrecht, who lived in Frederick County, Maryland in the 19th century. His diaries are a major resource for anyone doing Frederick County genealogy or history, and while I think he'd drive me up the wall if I went on a trip with him, he'd be fascinating to talk to for a dinner (plus he might have dirt on some of my relatives).

3. Is there a piece of media you read/watched when you were way too young for it?

Arguably the Bible, which I read a great deal of in church at ages 8-10 because the sermons were boring and this was an acceptable way to occupy myself. Tons of sex and violence and people behaving really badly!

4. Is there a piece of media you wish you'd encountered earlier in life?

Two come to mind. The one that I could've encountered earlier in life is Gary Moore's song "Over the Hills and Far Away", which came out in the 1980s and which I heard for the first time a bit over a year ago. I love this song and am sorry that it wasn't part of my life earlier. It's my musical catnip -- good rhythm, tune and accompaniment inducing inchoate longing, good story.

The one that I couldn't have encountered earlier in life? Honestly, Twilight. I read about half of it when it came out and decided I was done, but if it'd been around when I was sixteen I would have adored it and had it as a beloved fandom.

5. What is your second favorite color?

Yellow. My favorite color is blue or purple or teal or bluish turquoise, depending on the day; they're all colors that I look good in, so are top choices when I'm buying clothes or yarn. But yellow is what I'll turn to as an accent color. The color of dandelions makes me happy. My hallway is painted a bright yellow. I can't wear yellow against my face; I'm not going to knit a yellow sweater or hat or scarf. But I love it paired with a blue.

From

smallhobbit:

1. Are you currently crafting a particular project at the moment? Or is there something you fully intend to pick up when you have the time.... I have a lot of WIPs and UFOs. If we limit it to projects I've touched in the past couple of weeks, I'm working on an infinity scarf using Xandy Peters's Fox Paws pattern, the Honeycomb vest, and a couple of vests for my kid's stuffed animals. I recently started the 17 Equations scarf, which I expect is going to take me at least a couple of years to finish.

2. Which book(s) would you say were the ones you enjoyed most this year? I've mostly been rereading old favorites this year. My favorite new book so far is the latest print Penric & Desdemonda collection Penric's Labors; I'd read two of the novellas already but hadn't read "Masquerade in Lodi", so that was fun.

3. What is your favourite season, and why? Autumn, because it finally stops being hot (though this year that didn't happen until a couple of weeks ago). Spring is a close second because of the wildflowers. (Both, however, come with allergies, which keeps them from being unmitigated pleasures.)

4. How will you celebrate Thanksgiving, and are there family traditions you still keep or have rejected? Spouse's and my family tradition used to be to go to folk dance camp, but Covid interrupted that, and we probably won't start going again; Spouse has trouble sleeping in the beds, and I've grown sufficiently out-of-shape and creaky that I can't enjoy the dancing like I used to. So we're going to have a simple roast turkey and dressing meal at home.

5. Which part of the States would you most like to visit? I'd like to see the Grand Canyon someday.

1. How many stars can you see in the sky at night where you live? (Not looking for an exact number here, just a general description.) Under a hundred.

2. What is your favorite constellation? Orion.

3. Are you able to see and identify any planets in the sky? Which ones? Venus and Mars reliably; Jupiter I can usually guess at.

4. Have you ever seen a satellite orbiting above the earth? Yep! Spouse and I check out Heavens-Above regularly to see when the ISS is passing or when some other bright satellite is visible.

5. Have you ever seen a rocket blasted off into space? Only on video.

1) What's the most cluttered spot in your home? If I have to pick one, the back corner of the living room.

2) What's your method for decluttering? Get rid of the obvious surface trash; put away the stuff that has a place. Beyond that, it depends on the stuff. I have two big snags in any decluttering project: first, when a lot of the clutter is someone else's stuff, and second, dealing with unwanted stuff that is too good to throw out, or that could be disposed of in a better way than dumping it in my trash can.

3) What are your favorite cleaning products? Simple Green, store brand version of Windex, and plain water.

4) What helps get you motivated to clean up? Visitors. (Which is one reason our living room hadn't been straightened up in a year and a half.) Or not being able to find something. Or just being tired of living on a set for a show about hoarders.

5) What's the most organized spot in your home? The bathroom cabinet.

1. What's your favorite crafty activity? Toss-up between spinning and knitting.

2. What got you into it? Knitting: my grandmother taught me when I was nine. Spinning: I saw people's really nifty handspun yarns and decided I wanted to learn to do that myself.

3. What was your favorite arts & crafts project as a kid? Favorite to make? Probably the musical notes sweater that I still have and wear. (Advantage to 1980s big baggy styles: they still fit when you're significantly older and 100 pounds heavier.)

4. What has someone made for you? My dad made me a nice wooden box that can be locked with a little padlock, though I don't use the locking function these days.

5. Are there any unfinished projects in your life you need to pick back up? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (pause for breath) I did a lot of cross-stitch many years ago, but stopped after having kids -- I can knit and watch a toddler more easily than I can cross-stitch and watch a toddler. I'd still like to finish the Teresa Wentzler Fantasy Sampler, though.

1. You have superpowers! Are you a hero, a villain, or just trying to get by? Just trying to get by.

2. What's your origin story? On a backpacking trip through Europe, I was in Salzburg, resting on a bench on a hill and looking out at Alps, when a voice from a nearby grove said "Give me the ring you're wearing and I will give you power!" Since it was a cheap RenFaire ring, I decided it was worth the risk. Immediately, I started hearing Mozart in the background.

3. What is your superpower? When I focus on a person or a scene, I hear the corresponding soundtrack. Based on the music I hear, I can tell whether my conversation partner wants to hang out with me, con me, or get in my bed. I can tell that this couple here hates each other even though they're smiling and this couple here is madly in love even if they're not looking at each other. I can tell when a crowd is about to get ugly or when a meeting is starting to go south. I can tell that the footsteps behind me at night are someone who wants to rob me or someone who's just trying to remember where they parked. At its best, when I think of an action, the way the music changes in that moment tells me whether it's a good or bad idea.

4. Every superpowered individual has a weakness. What's yours? Alcohol; it makes it impossible for me to focus on one individual or group and filter out others. The cacophony is debilitating.

5. What is the most mundane use you've put your powers to? Do you use laser vision to cut your hair, for example? When I think about the cover of a record album or CD, I can hear the tracks, so I have a book of album cover art I use instead of Spotify.

1. Do you buy and use canned food? Yes. If I were the main food prep person in the household I probably wouldn't buy as much as Spouse does, but I'd certainly have some on hand.

2. What is your favourite canned food? Tuna. And when I'm sick, Campbell's chicken noodle soup.

3. Do you like some canned food better than the fresh or dried version of it? I can't think of one I like *better*, but I like canned beans about as well as fresh-cooked-from-dried beans.

4. Do you have a can that just sits at the back of the cupboard? has anything weird happened to it? or do you still plan on using it in the future? There is a can of mandarin oranges in our cupboard. I have no idea why Spouse bought it or what is planned for it. But it still has a year before it expires, so.

5. What is the weirdest thing you have seen canned? No opinion. If a food's preservable by canning, then presumably someone's going to can it.

1. Where are you right now? Home.

2. Where would you like to be right now? Right here, just by myself and expecting nobody else home for at least a couple of days.

3. Where have you always wanted to visit (but have not yet)? The Grand Canyon.

4. What is the most peaceful place you’ve ever visited? I-10 through the desert of Arizona and New Mexico. Between towns, if you pull over and stop, you will hear nothing but the wind. (And then when a car does come by, they'll stop to check on you, because there might not be someone else along for hours and they're making sure you aren't in trouble.)

5. Where do you want to visit in your dreams tonight? That place that looks like my house but with an extra room.

1. Do you like children? For short interactions, sure. For long interactions, depends on the kid and their age.

2. How many children would you like to have in the future? Zero. The ones I have are plenty, and while the factory still belches smoke, it's unlikely to make shippable product.

3. What if you were expecting sextuplets? I would be on the phone to adoption agencies, because just no. I can't afford the daycare, and Spouse is too old to cope with one more baby, let alone six.

4. If TLC offered to share your life on TV, would you accept the offer? Nope. I worry enough about strangers judging me as it is; I'm not going to invite them to do it.

5. What would you name the sextuplets? Threnody, Ambergris, Lupercalia, Callifragilistic, Majorca, and Steve.

From

thefridayfive:

1. What's your favorite candle scent? I don't use candles except for power outages or on birthday cakes, so I don't have an opinion. When I was a kid we had a vaguely-vanilla scented candle that had a wreath of plastic artificial flowers around its base; we didn't burn it often, but I liked the scent of the unlit candle.

2. Do you have an artistic or crafty hobby? What is it? (looks around the room at the multiple spindles with yarn in progress, the spinning wheel, the sundry knitting and crochet projects, the drawer full of handknit socks, the multiple handknit scarves, the handspun and handknit sweater on the chair behind me)

3. What's one weird way you save money on food? Running another pitcher of water through the same leaves in the ice tea maker to make homeopathic tea for the kids? I'm not the primary grocery shopper in the household, and I can't think of any weird ways we save money; plus, anything we save is offset by my expensive chocolate habit.

4. Do you collect anything weird or unusual? Not that unusual to have a coffee mug collection, but I'm one of the few people I know who has a display shelf for them instead of having all of them in the cupboard.

5. Do you fear the deep ocean, or does its unknown depths excite you? Both? If I were offered the opportunity to go in a deep-sea exploratory vehicle, I'd probably do it, but it'd take me a few minutes to stuff myself into the thing. (But in general, I'm not that drawn to going into the ocean; any interest I ever had in diving ended with my first swimming pool dive where I got water deep in my ear and was in pain for days.)

December 24. Do you bite on straws, lollipop handles, or ice cream sticks? Yep. In elementary school, I chewed through the temples of my first pair of glasses and got majorly chewed out by my mom; in high school I routinely chewed the erasers and ferrules off pencils. I still crunch ice.

25. Do your parents still live in the same house they raised you in? Currently yes; we'll see how long that lasts.

26. What’s your favorite flavor of soda, pop or whatever else you call it? I don't drink it.

27. What time do you usually have dinner? In lockdown time, around 5:30. In non-lockdown time, whenever I get home from work.

28. Do you keep the cabinets in your kitchen and bathroom organized? Yes.

29. What do you wish you’d spent more time doing five years ago? Writing and meeting new people.

30. How often do you light candles? On birthday cakes and in blackouts, and that's about it. I used to light them more often, but young kids and an increasingly cluttered house put an end to that. When I do light candles, they're ordinary tapers, no scented candles.

31. What are you looking forward to in the next year? Using more of my lovely yarn and fiber stash. Doing more improv, Covid allowing. Doing more genealogy and playing on WikiTree. Beyond that, who knows?

December 17. Which parent was more strict when you were growing up? They were equally strict.

18. Do you ever get gut-feelings about things? Do you follow them? Yes, and often.

19. There’s an app for everything. What apps consume the most of your time? My ebook reader and my music app.

20. Have you ever had a bedroom with a specific theme? No.

21. Do you have memories from preschool? Parading with a giant toy dog on my head; wetting myself and having to take off my tights and underwear because there wasn't a spare pair; the day a fire truck visited, and the fireman ran a hose and made rainbows in the water, and I could never manage to shout "rainbow!" at the same time as the other kids, I always had a couple seconds' delay.

22. Is there anything about technology that scares you? The people who create it, their assumption that everyone who'll be affected by the tech is Just Like Them, and their inability or lack of concern to think through possible consequences.

23. What’s a word/phrase that’s commonly heard in your region, but not anywhere else? "Fixing to".

December 10. Have you ever won a trophy for something? I mentioned the citywide high school science competition a few months back; took home three trophies for that. But my favorite trophy was when our city's Academic Competition Team took second place in a regional competition; the second place trophy was six feet tall, and we had a heck of a time getting it on the airplane.

11. What is your favorite yogurt topping? Oatmeal and raisins.

12. Have you ever done a craft project you saw on Pinterest? No.

13. What color were your bedroom walls painted when you were a teenager? White.

14. What is your favorite pasttime for each of the four seasons? Spring: seeing wildflowers. Summer: staying inside in the air conditioning with a glass of ice water. Autumn: taking walks when it's light out and enjoying the cool. Winter: using the oven.

15. Were you voted for a superlative in high school? No, but the people who were chosen for the only one I'd have been a candidate for were so off the mark that I wrote the whole thing off as bullhockey.

16. A reality show idea that you would most definitely watch on television? I don't really watch television, so I can't think of anything interesting enough that it'd overcome the initial hurdle of making time to sit in front of the television.

This Old House is the closest thing to a reality show that I've ever watched regularly. I don't enjoy watching people do stupid things or show their worst sides (I can see enough of that on the news), and most reality shows seem to try to make people behave as badly as possible. It's not good for me to look at random strangers and go "wow, what idiots/assholes! at least I'm better than that!"

December 3. What was the longest you stayed in your own home for? Um, pandemic?

4. What is the best positive change you’ve made recently? I will tentatively say making more of a point of using a notebook to write tasks down, but we'll see if it sticks.

5. Have you ever inherited something? DNA.

6. If you have a partner, have you ever had to sleep in separate beds? Spouse and I have slept in separate beds for our entire marriage, due to Spouse's sleep issues. We're currently debating whether we can tolerate sharing a bedroom so that our kids can have separate bedrooms.

7. What is something you are skeptical about? The general existence of the supernatural. I know enough reliable people who describe experiences that make me keep an open mind, but I've never had such an experience myself. The numinous, yes; the supernatural, no.

8. What is an unusual item you or somebody you know owns? A paperweight with a computer chip in it.

9. Does it bother you if someone practically bathes in perfume? Yes. I don't mind scents, but if I can smell that you were in the room five minutes after you left, you're using too much.

November 26. Is there anything you used to love but now dislike? Some books didn't grow with me.

27. Your favorite place to be aside from your home? A coffeehouse that's quiet enough to work in.

28. What is your favorite kind of tea? Decaf black.

29. Any old home remedies you use when you're sick? Campbell's chicken noodle soup.

30. What level of brightness do you usually keep your phone at? Medium-low indoors; very bright outdoors.

1. How old were you when you got your first car? 28.

2. What is a topic you are uncomfortable with discussing with most people? Depends on the context. In some contexts I'd cheerfully talk about my sex life; in others I'd keep my mouth shut about what I eat for breakfast or the fact that I own my home.

November 19. How do you identify spiritually (do you follow a religion, what do you think about soul/spirit, etc.)? Agnostic theist.

20. Do you prefer your nails long or short? Short.

21. What are your favorite smells? Cookies baking. Honeysuckle. Petrichor.

22. Do you still use a radio or just use your phone/computer for music? Mostly my phone/computer.

23. What kind of socks do you prefer to wear? My handknit wool ones.

24. Do you have any family heirlooms? A christening gown that was my grandfather's.

25. Are there any musicians you didn't like at first but grew on you? A slew of heavy metal bands. I heard lots of AC/DC, Judas Priest, etc. as a teen because my brother played electric guitar; later in life I learned that I like metal when it's not coming through my wall when I'm trying to listen to something else. (Also, there was something about hitting early middle age that made metal much more satisfying to listen to.)

November 12. Would you ever go out in public wearing pajamas? I've gone out in sweatpants, which might as well be pajamas.

13. Have you ever had a lemonade stand? No.

14. Do you think you look older or younger than your real age? I think I look exactly my real age.

15. Where have you lived throughout your life? South of the Mason-Dixon line.

16. Do you want any piercings? Not really. I might get my ears repierced at some point, now that I'm not worried about small children grabbing them, but I've never wanted a piercing anywhere else. Tattoos, now, I've considered; I'd originally thought about getting one for a milestone birthday, but the pandemic prevented that, and now I'm not sure I want to bother. If I do, though, the likely design candidates are my owl icon or the Athena owl from that Athenian coin.

17. What’s your mouse pad look like? Don't have one.

18. Have you ever been to a psychic/tarot reader? Psychic, no. Tarot reader, not a professional, but I've had an occasional reading done by someone else.

November 5. When was the last time you flew on a plane? 2019.

6. How many first cousins do you have? At least nineteen (two of whom are deceased) that I'm certain of, plus two maybes, and I would be unsurprised to find I have more.

7. What’s the longest period of time you’ve gone without sleep? 36 hours.

8. Did the house you grew up in have a big yard? By city standards, yes; by rural standards, no.

9. What has been the most difficult class you’ve ever taken? Classical mechanics.

10. What’s something that’s much more difficult than a lot of people realize? Book publishing.

11. What are some things a house would need to have for you to purchase it? A price I can afford in a neighborhood that's pleasant for me to live in. Depending on the regional climate, central heat/air. More than one toilet. A space where I can be private from the family. Good structural condition. (I live in a house that other buyers had passed over because of crayon graffiti in the living room by previous renters; we looked at it and said "well, a lot of it's ugly, but it can be painted over".)

October 29. What was the last thing you used your phone for, besides calling/texting? My phone is a dumb phone, so I've never used it for anything else.

30. Do you always check the prices of things when you buy groceries? Yep. I also keep a running overestimate of how much I'm spending, so if the total at the register is higher than that I know there's something wrong. (But I'm also not doing the main grocery run, just supplemental runs, so there's fewer items to keep track of.)

31. How many nights per week do you cook dinner at home vs. going out to eat? If a pandemic's going on, six nights eating something Spouse cooked or leftovers; one night eating takeout; zero nights going out. In the BeforeTimes, I'd go out one or two nights a week when I had a class.

November 1. Have you ever been caught outdoors away from shelter during a thunderstorm? Yes, but never terribly far from shelter -- maybe a ten minutes' walk.

2. Did you ever build furniture forts as a child? Yes.

3. Do you use any medicines daily? Not yet.

4. When was the last time you used a disposable camera? Can't remember; many years ago now.

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