A survey, courtesy of Melanie

This is all Melanie's fault.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
That's a tough one. I bought my current car in March of 1996. My grandmother was one of the first people to go for a ride in it, and she was only a few weeks in her first nursing home then. So in January 1996 she wasn't in a nursing home yet, and was probably still at home with us. So part of the answer is that I was helping take care of her at home.

Workwise, I was still the Statistical Process Control Coordinator for CD Pre-Production, which was at that time mostly a teaching and training position, with plenty of analysis thrown in. I changed offices five times between 1993 and 1998, and each time my job description changed slightly. I think I was in the third office at this point, which means that my partner had already been broken off to work for our startup DVD group. This was in the days before there was anything called a DVD. We helped invent the technology - and paid a heavy price for being pioneers.

Personally I was travelling more, spending time in New Jersey and the Poconos and visiting a friend in her Lincoln Park apartment in Washington, D.C. Still, that doesn't help place me; I can't even remember when she moved in. Or was it out?

Given my annual bouts of Seasonal Affective Disorder, the answer is probably the same as what I do every January: sulking in a state of semi-hibernation.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
I thought my blog would help me here, but no such luck. All my posts from this time last year were pretty generic. See the above comment about S.A.D.

Personally and professionally, I was doing pretty much the same thing I am now. I am so dynamic.

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Chocolate, especially chunk chocolate from Diamond's Candy Shoppe in downtown Nanticoke.
2. Local potato chip brands Middleswarth and Gibble's.
3. Turkey Hill Rocky Road Ice Cream.
4. Homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies...homemade by me. They are the best. I rule.
5. Fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Counts as one because all together they do not amount to as much as any one of the others, but I will seriously snack on apples, oranges, grapes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, peanuts, pecans, almonds, and on, and on.

Five songs to which I know all the lyrics
I'm not sure I know all the lyrics to any songs. I've always had a hard time hearing lyrics to songs, so sometimes I'll fill them in with words that approximate the rhythm and the meter. I try to look up song lyrics, but sometimes the ones listed in the liner notes (for example, Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had $1,000,000", Counting Crows' "Mr Jones", or Courtney Love's "Hollywood Hills") are simply - and possibly intentionally - wrong.

Still, I have learned the words to a few songs that I will sometimes sing in my car at the top of my lungs:

1. "Just Like Heaven" - The Cure. 'Nuff said. It works as a country song, too.
2. "Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins. A dangerous song to have playing while driving. ("Whoooooooo waaaaahnts huuuuuhneeeeeee, 'slong as there's some.....maaaaaahneee, Who wahnts thaat huuhuuuuuuneee....")
3. "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" - originally by Bruce Cockburn*, I learned it from the Barenaked Ladies. ("Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, you gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight..." That gives me goosebumps just reading it.)
4. "I Alone" by Live. Good for inducing aneurysms while driving. Also good for waking yourself up late at night. (This also works as a country song: "I'll read tuh yeh heer, save yer ayes...yu'll need 'em, yer boat is at sea...")
5. "Stand Inside Your Love", Smashing Pumpkins. Discovered by accident when I dumped a Smashing Pumpkins Greatest Hits CD onto a 12-hour .mp3 compilation. Some of the words I approximate...I don't even know if Billy Corgan knows all the words. I learned this song mostly by playing it on a continuous loop on the way to work.

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire
1. Get a financial adviser. Seriously. That's the first thing.
2. Invest. Heavily. At least half of it.
3. Arrange things so my mom would never, ever have to worry about going into a nursing home. That might eat up the rest.
4. Buy a few chunks of forest and keep them as forest.
5. Invest whatever remains. I'll be sure to think of something else to do with it later.

Five bad habits
1. Sloth.
2. Gluttony.
3. Spending too much time on the Internet.
4. Procrastination.
5. Despair.

Five things I like doing
1. Blogging. Also spending too much time on the Internet.
2. Giving blood. Every eight weeks. It's the easiest way to lose weight that I know of, and the easiest way to help people without lifting a finger. If only they could do something about that damned needle.
3. Reading.
4. Girls. Wait, "doing girls" doesn't sound right, does it?
5. Driving. I'd better like it. I average 1,000 miles every 17 days.

Five things I would never wear, buy or get new again
Hmmm. Doesn't really seem to apply to me. I'm not known for fashion mistakes. Or fashion.
1. Flip-flops. I hate these things. They are the farthest things from the form of a "shoe" that you can get that are still marginally considered shoes. They are uncomfortable, do not serve any purpose other than to keep your feet off the ground, and fall off so easily that you need to focus tremendous concentration just to keep them on your feet. I wore them once, at the beach, and I think I threw them out. Sandals do the same job without most of the disadvantages.
2. Zip-up smooth-soled boots. I last wore these in third grade. They are uncomfortable, provide marginal ankle support, and give no traction. Plus I would sometimes get the skin of my ankle caught in the zipper.
3. Tank top or v-neck t-shirts under other shirts. These perform no real function. The v-neck looks ridiculous, too.
4. Down jacket. Very warm, but tends to be too fragile for me. Ends up spewing feathers from multiple ruptures. Last worn in fifth grade.
5. Tinted glasses. I think these make you look like a jerk, or like someone who wants to look like a jerk. Last worn when I was about 12.

Five favorite toys
1. My computer. Currently a Compaq Presario 7478, circa 1999. Upgraded the RAM in 2001 or 2002, but it's getting outpaced by the rigorous demands of most websites...or their pop-up ads.
2. My CyberHome DVD player. For under $40, it plays .mp3s, MPEG movies, JPEG images, CDs, and DVDs. Soon to be replaced with a CyberHome DVD Player/Recorder (approximate price: $80.)
3. My Nikon Coolpix 4100 camera. It's small, simple, and takes nice pictures.
4. My 1996 Toyota Tercel. Smart, fast, maneuverable, it's a car for someone who knows how to drive and isn't intimidated by vehicles 10 times your size. Efficient and reliable, too.
5. My painting stuff. Technically a big pile of things - paints, brushes, canvasses, wooden boxes, books of techniques. All comes together as one...when the time is right and the feeling hits me.

There. I did it. Dammit. Satisfied?

Oh, I guess I'm supposed to tag five people. OK, you, you, you in the funky T-shirt, you, and...you. No, not you. The other one.

Don't try to get out of it. I've got a Sitemeter. I know who you are.

*heh heh, heh heh