Meme time

In the interest of blogging more often, I gakked this meme (I sound sooooo techno) from Dr. Write:

Answer these questions with only one word. (Anyone who knows me is no doubt doubled over laughing at the idea of me being able to keep myself to one word...)

Where is your cell phone? desk
Where is your significant other? work
Your hair color? fabulous
Your mother? missed
Your father? growing
Your favorite thing? water
Your dream last night? hazy
Your dream/goal? innovation
The room you’re in? office
Your hobby? fabulousness
Your fear? abandonment
Where do you want to be in 6 years? cohabiting
Where were you last night? tub
What you’re not? focused
One of your wish-list items? boots
Where you grew up? seattle
The last thing you did? chatted
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? functional
Your pet? nope
Your computer? Macbook
Your mood? tentative
Missing someone? sweetie
Your car? functional
Something you’re not wearing? necklace
Favorite store? Loft
Your summer? amazing
Love someone? passionately
Your favorite color? purple
When is the last time you laughed? morning
Last time you cried? unsure

Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of my oldest and dearest friends. I'd love to send her oodles of stuff, but of course, she doesn't need that. Instead, I'll wait until May, when we can celebrate together in Seattle over cosmos & seafood.

In the meantime, let's just recall her 14th birthday party--a slumber party at her house, with two other friends, at which we stayed up very very late eating cheese puffs and malted milk ball eggs (the fun of a near-Easter birthday) and recording an improvised satire of the Miss America pageant on her tape recorder.

Yes, geeks with orange and chocolate-covered tongues. Way cool.

From one of her many fans

Maddie had so many admirers, particularly, for some reason, among young girls. Here's a drawing The Roommate's little sister V (aged 4 or 5) did just last fall. (Apparently she was also talking to Maddie a great deal that afternoon, giving her "choices," something every parent of young persons must be familiar with. Maddie's choices were: "sleep," "eat," or "play." Sums up a dog's life, eh?)

I like the extra "D", too...it's a nice touch.

Friendship City

Delicate Boy blogged this morning about friendship....and I have to agree that I'm often amazed by the long-term friendships I've maintained. I had a great dinner just before Thanksgiving with K, whom I've known since seventh grade. Even though we live on other sides of the country, even though our interests often diverge, we share a deep history--in part because we met at our church, surrounded by those good Scandinavian-American Lutheran women and men who had a huge part in shaping our psyches.

And staying with my friends from college--sorority sisters, at that--who are smart and well traveled and funny, who read lots of interesting things I haven't, who have a take on the world that complements and challenges my own. That was very nice. That's the kinds of friendship I haven't been able to develop where I am now--well, I *did* develop that with my grad school friends, but now we've all scattered and communicate through our blogs and email and occasional phone calls and cards. The kinds of friends who send you a cool present in the mail for no reason at all. Who give you fun nicknames. I like that.

I do wish I'd had more time to visit with folks while I was in Seattle--I feel rather guilty about it. These are people I may only see once every few years, and maybe part of why I want to spend time with them is nostalgia, as I miss the young (albeit often messed up and confused) people we were together. But I also love appreciating the cool middle-aged people we've become.