Manic Monday #156

Lisa's questions this week are:

What's one of the simple pleasures in your life?

Playing RockBand with my family and friends. We've slowed down a bit but we used to play it every night; sometimes more than once. Talk about Rock-n-Roll excess!

What do you like to snack on when you watch a movie?

Popcorn would be my #1 choice! Just a touch of butter will do. Of course, I wouldn't pass up some Goobers. Chocolate and peanuts are the perfect combination!

If you were a Survivor contestant, what would be your luxury item?

I'd want to choose something practical that would have many uses, like a Swiss Army Knife, but I wonder if there are restrictions on that type of thing. Maybe I'd bring a game that my tribe could play which would pass some time, might be fun, and also reveal personality traits in my fellow contestants.


More Manic Mondays.

Booking Through Thursday: Storage

Taken from the BTT site:

This week’s question is suggested by Kat:

I recently got new bookshelves for my room, and I’m just loving them. Spent the afternoon putting up my books and sharing it on my blog . One of my friends asked a question and I thought it would be a great BTT question. So from Tina & myself, we’d like to know:

“How do you arrange your books on your shelves? Is it by author, by genre, or you just put it where it falls on?”

I tend to group mine by genre, keeping all series together. I have so many books and my shelves are deep so I'll put older books that I've already read in the back with new books in front of them. I try to put heavier books near the bottom because I have a phobia that the kittens will be in freak-out mode and knock the shelves over on top of them. Yeah, I know, it's a stretch, but, hey, it could happen!

Since I have bookshelves in the bedroom and the living room, I tend to keep the romance and erotic romance novels in the bedroom (makes sense) and the general fiction, how-to's, gardening, animal, arts and writing books in the living room. We really need a separate room just for books. My husband is a collector as well. His large collection of excellent comic books are stored in long cardboard boxes down in the mancave.

My TBR books are kept on the top two shelves of one of the bedroom bookshelves. I've severely cut back on new purchases until I can whittle away at the TBRs.

I'm not sure if I should admit it or not but I am a magazine junkie. Have been for many years. These you will find on the bottom of several bookshelves, in a stack on my desk, another on my desk chair, and several others in bags and boxes in my closet. It's bad, I know. Not so bad that you'll see me on the evening news when an intervention unit is busting into my house because the neighbors tipped them off to a "magazine hoarder", but it could easily slip into that if I didn't occasionally weed through them and throw a few out. Since I've developed an interest in collage, I'm hoping to rid myself of several by tearing out the picture and article gems and throwing the rest out. May the Force be with me.

Want to know how others arrange their books? Go to Booking Through Thursday.

The Sound of Paper

Please check out my post at Texty Ladies today. It's about the booking I'm currently reading, "The Sound of Paper: Starting from Scratch" by Julia Cameron.

Leave me some comment love, if you're so inclined. :)

Manic Monday

Fleur De Lisa posts some fun questions over at Manic Monday so I thought I'd give it a go. Here are today's questions and my answers:

What's the most embarrassing song on your iPod (or music collection)?

Hmmm... I guess I'd have to say "Stay With Me Tonight" by Jeffrey Osborne. The only reason I picked it is because most of the music on my iPod right now is industrial, funk and electronic and a bit darker in nature. I'm not really embarrassed to say I love this song because it always makes me move and reminds me of a time in my life when I had fewer responsibilities. Come on. You can't help but move when you hear it!

How much time do you spend each day in your commute? (Or if you don't work outside the house, how much time do you spend in your car or other preferred mode of transportation?)

On average, I spend one hour before work and one hour after in commute. About ten minutes of that (each way) is driving in my own car; the rest is on public transit (oh, joy!).

What's your favorite wardrobe item and why?

My favorite wardrobe item right now is the incredibly soft and cushy robe I picked up while celebrating my husband's and my anniversary last year. They were, of course, draped over our bed, ready to be enjoyed and lusted after so that we'd HAVE to purchase them at checkout. We both couldn't resist and we rationalized our purchase with this excellent reasoning: The traditional anniversary gift item for that year was cotton, so exquisitely soft and comfortable cotton robes would only be honoring tradition, right? ;)

Hey, this was kinda fun! Thanks, Lisa! I think I'll look for next week's questions, too. Wanna join me?

Been There, Done That

I grabbed this from Melsdream.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (???)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Looks like I have some catching up to do.