Via elissa_carey: When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.

Vizzini: Finish him! Finish him, your way.
Fezzik: Oh good. My way. Thank you, Vizzini. ...What's my way?
Vizzini: Pick up one of those rocks. Get behind a boulder. In a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend. The minute his head is in view, hit it with the rock.
Fezzik: My way's not very sportsmanlike.

(This won out narrowly over "I do not think that word means what you think it means." Sadly, I have no Princess Bride icons.)

Via rolypolypony, using your browser history to estimate your gender:

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 8%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 92%

Site	Male-Female Ratio
youtube.com	1
amazon.com	0.9
facebook.com	0.83
imdb.com	1.06
snopes.com	0.74
livejournal.com	0.68
google.ca	1.33
rottentomatoes.com	1.17
hotmail.com	0.83
guardian.co.uk	1.33
abebooks.com	0.96
amazon.ca	1.04
newyorker.com	1.22
theglobeandmail.com	1.5
thestar.com	1.47
newscientist.com	1.44
nationalpost.com	1.74
metacritic.com	1.56
motherjones.com	1.47

If they only knew!

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

Not completely off-base. Except for the "Always get what they want" part, which is clearly insane, and the "Loves to takes things at the centre" part, which isn't actually English.

"Lies but doesn't pretend" hits uncomfortably close to the bone.

In other news:
- JK Rowling came and bothered Maureen Johnson again; you must read her account. MUST.
- I saw Elizabeth: The Golden Age last night, and loved it; I was able to happily tune out all questions of historical veracity except for the nagging "Why does Mary Queen of Scots have a Scottish accent?" I loved that the Infanta had an Elizabeth doll. And that was totally Eilean Donan, not Fotheringay. Cate Blanchett is SO GOOD playing Elizabeth entering middle age, so powerful but also so alone. I will be be very happy if they make a third one, about 20 years from now.
- It's Friday. Hurray!

I thought the lists in the previous post were lacking something. Then pretentiousgit pointed me to Sars' excellent 25 and Over, which is in fact the something they lacked. For completeness, I shall meme it too! Bold I have covered. Plain text I could still stand to work on. But read the whole thing.

( Read more... )

16/20 = 80% Over 25! But on a significantly tougher test. Also a more important one. Go me. I think.

Yesterday was boiling (high of 25). Today, not so much (currently 10 and drizzling). Unfortunately I did not get the memo, so I only wore a T-shirt and my rain jacket (well, and pants and shoes, obviously...). Good thing the climate control in my office is so crazy I keep a sweater and blanket here at all times...

In other news, Uncertain Principles proposes a meme.

As mentioned in the previous post, Cut to the Chase offers two lists of skills to look at: The Popular Mechanics list of "25 Skills Every Man Should Know" and a new list of "20 Practical Skills Every Self-Sufficient Adult Should Have."

This seems ripe for an Internet "meme" thing, so here's a the proposed game:

Go through both lists, and determine how many of the listed skills you can claim. Compare the fractions to see if you're more of a ManlyMan or a Self-Sufficient Adult.

( Read more... )

Tagged by thassalia some time back:

1. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
2. Tag seven people to do the same.
3. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it." (Aww...)

1. I will eat just about anything except raw mushrooms. Although I'm not too fond of raw spinach or walnuts either, which makes spinach salad my least favourite food.

2. My high school had a uniform, and as a result I cannot ever wear burgundy and grey together (even though it was quite a decent uniform as these things go). Fortunately I have recently discovered that burgundy goes quite well with dark brown.

3. There is a surprising amount of lime green in my closet and in my house.

4. I get very annoyed when movies and TV shows use "person with asthma and glasses" (which I am) as a shortcut for "neurasthenic weakling" (which I'm not, thank you). Trial Run is one of my favourite Dick Francis novels because it defies this boring convention.

5. I am pretty tolerant of scientific sloppiness in the movies if they're otherwise working, but ludicrously, obviously, ridiculously nonsensical science makes me twitch. (If I recognize it.) I haven't yet seen Sunshine because I fear this. (As I told life_on_queen repeatedly, once you're out of hydrogen, you're out of hydrogen.)

6. For some reason, I own three coffee presses. I didn't start doing it until fairly recently, prompted by raithen's good example, but now making my own coffee in the morning makes me feel all grown-up and in charge of my life.

7. I can't seem to function without lists.

Tagging (although you certainly don't have to do this if you don't want to, or if you have already): life_on_queen, raithen, jenlev, pretentiousgit, monkeycommando, nellisir, texaslawchick.

Oh, and if you signed up for me to ask you questions a few weeks ago, your questions are up now. I hate to rush these things. ;)

1. Leave me a casual comment of no particular significance, like a lyric to your current favorite song, or your favorite kind of sandwich, maybe your favorite game. Any remark, meaningless or not.

2. I will respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.

3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.

4. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in your own post.

5. When others respond with a desultory comment, you will ask them five questions.

1. Have you been to all the provinces of Canada?
Not yet. I haven't been to Saskatchewan. I've also not been to any of the territories, which don't count as provinces but do count as large chunks of the country. I'd like to spend more time in almost all of them, however, especially Newfoundland -- I've only been to Newfoundland the once and promptly succumbed to bronchitis, so I don't feel like I really got to see much of it. Although I am in a position to tell you Newfoundlanders are possibly the nicest people in the whole world.

2. Tell me about a secret spot you had as a kid.
I wouldn't call it secret, exactly, but while my parents and I were living in Kenya I used to go home to Canada for summers at the cottage. Their room (which is a converted attic) was uninhabited, but had a lot of their stuff there. My cousins and I used to "borrow" my mum's clothes for plays, and hid out in their room to play when it was rainy.

3. Where and when do you feel most centered and most yourself?
I guess in my house. Specifically my kitchen, which I think is my favourite room. I'm not a cook of any genius, but I have everything set up the way I want it and I have everything under control and it's very satisfying. The other time is if I'm really in the editing groove at work. When I'm writing I'm beset by doubts, but when editing I get to indulge my love of Making It Better. I adore structural editing and I'm loving the plain-language work I'm doing at the moment. Very very satisfying.

I suspect I might have some of the same feeling when hiking. I don't do enough of it to be sure. ;)

4. Do you like rollercoasters?
I'm not crazy about them, but I'll go on them.

5. What's something you found out/figured out about your parents only well after you entered adulthood?
My mum is a lot tougher than she seems, when necessary. My dad is a frustrated idealist.

Not that I have an icon for Elinor. Please to pretend this picture of Emma as Beatrice is actually Emma as Elinor.

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

via coffeeem:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Noble Excellency Robin the Unlikely of Mousehole by Sea Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Please note, "Mousehole" is pronounced "Mouzle". ("Mowzel", whatever.) I've been there!

I think this is the most aristocratic icon I have.

via jaanquidam: what do you think? is it me? I had to do a tiebreaker.

( Wheel of Fortune )

Movie meme from llnaughty and lawgeekgurl:

A. Pick 11 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes on your blog.
D. Have commenters guess what the movie is.
E. Either strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified or place the guesser’s user name directly after the quote.
F. Extra points for knowing the actor or character’s name.

1. I'd walk... if it wasn't for all that water. To Have and Have Not, lawgeekgurl
2. The only thing between Oklahoma City and Mexico is Texas! Thelma and Louise, Thelma, ide_cyan
3. I feel much better now. Calmer.
4. "What hit me?" "The sixth martini." The Thin Man, cretkid
5. Where's my wandering parakeet? The Philadelphia Story, Liz Imbrie (played by Ruth Hussey), cretkid
6. I hope all your children have very small dicks! And that includes the girls! The Tall Guy, cretkid
7. So I'm like a... battery-operated Mary Tyler Moore? The Matchmaker, Janeane Garofalo, claris
8. Sever the head, or destroy the brain. Shaun of the Dead, claris, although as calebbullen observes it's not a very specific quote.
9. How am I suppose to write for a guy who doesn't have a head? Soapdish, lawgeekgurl, Whoopi Goldberg, claris (who was close but no cigar on the movie title as well)
10. I'm a serial killer. That's someone who commits a series of apparently unmotivated murders based on personal compulsion. Roadkill, Don McKellar, life_on_queen
11. One day you'll drop dead, and I'll come to your funeral in a red dress! Moonstruck, cretkid

Wow, apparently my memory for dialogue (and indeed for my favourite movies) is really, really bad. Still, have at it.

I think, if I were writing a "how privileged are you?" meme, I'd have to start with the basics:

(1) Can you sleep with a roof over your head?
(2) Can you get from home to school, or home to work, with reasonable confidence that you will not be shot, bombed, or abducted?
(3) Do you have access to clean drinking water?
(4) Can you eat enough to meet your basic energy requirements each day?
(5) Do you have access to a varied, nutritious diet each day?
(6) Have you been immunized against the major diseases of childhood: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis?
(7) Do you have access to emergency health care?
(8) Do you have access to basic preventive health care?
(9) Did your mother have access to a doctor or trained midwife when you were born?
(10) Can you read this quiz?
(11) Do you have a primary/elementary school education?
(12) Do you have a secondary/high school education?
(13) If you are of legal voting age in your jurisdiction, can you vote in secret and without intimidation?
(14) Do you own a pair of shoes?
(15) Do you own more than one outfit?
(n/a) If you are religious, can you practice your religion without fear of persecution?

There's bound to be more.

This meme is just bizarre. I keep trying to gauge the background and personality of the person who came up with it and coming up empty. Apparently you are spoiled if more than 40 of the following apply to you, but yeah, "good credit" and "a passport" and "a hammock" don't exactly scream "spoiled rotten" to me. Nor do "access to a large body of water" and "neighbourhood committee membership." Some parts of it suggest the author is:

- from somewhere inland and fairly dry
- about 16 or 17

And yet other internal evidence suggests otherwise. Very odd.

( 31. Phew. Not as spoiled as I could be. )

(ETA: although of course, as raithen points out, it does show that I am plenty privileged. But I knew that. And I bet I could come up with a better list of questions for gauging it, too.)

from raithen:

( What should I read next? Like I needed more suggestions. )

Normally I let meme tags slide on by, but I'm home, and why not? Here goes...

1. Thank the person who tagged you.
2. List 5 random/strange/weird things about yourself
3. Tag 5 other people.

1. Thank you, mr_weasel!!

2. Ummm... but what if I can't think of anything?
- People who love me claim that my handwritten "f"s look like "g"s. I blame this on changing schools in the middle of learning to do joined-up writing. I also figure that after, what, 23 years of it, my parents at least should really have figured my writing out by now.
- I used to have pierced ears, but I don't any more because they developed keloids and it was really gross.
- I took 4 years of Latin in high school, and was head of the Classics Club. Sadly this does not make me any better at remembering anything about classical civilization.
- I refuse to wear maroon and grey together. In practice this means I refuse to wear maroon, because it really doesn't go with much else.
- I will eat just about anything, but I realized recently that spinach salad -- raw spinach, raw mushrooms, and walnuts -- is a kind of culinary perfect storm of yucky for me.

3. I hate tagging people, but do this if you feel like it. You won't have 7 years of bad luck if you don't or anything, I promise. That's an urban myth.