Current Listening: Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
Current Reading: The Devil's Cup by Stewart Lee Allen
Recipe of the Day: Pumpkin Orange Soup with Parmesan Toasts, Asian Chicken Salad (uses Ramen packet!), Mini Cheese Calzones, Sweet-And-Sour Brisket of Beef, Orange Dreamsicle Layer Cake, Sour Cream Cinnamon Loaf

I still have some catching up to do today on NaNoWriMo, but I wrote 3176 words yesterday! I also didn't get to bed until 4AM! Check it out by clicking on the keyboard icon above! I still have to write almost 4000 words today to stay on schedule! Ouch!

And, now for the...

1. What food do you like that most people hate?

Uh - how long do you have? I have been eating raw oysters since I was a tyke - most people outside of Louisiana find that idea distasteful. I also love beef tongue and cabrito (roasted goat) - Love them! I am sort of a connoisseur of wierd foods. I don't like them all, but I will try them usually - at least once. I also like liver and steak tartare and sushi!

2. What food do you hate that most people love?

Well, coffee (see, and I am reading a book about coffee now - mainly for the travelogue aspect!) and beer - I don't like those. I had a bad experience with coffee as a child - tried it and threw up! - so I don't really even like the smell! I would not say that I hate steak - but it has to be very rare. My grandparents were ranchers, and nothing said I love you like a big hunk of well-done steak. It took me hours to eat it - chewing all the flavor out and secreting the chunks left over in my napkin... I know, gross!

3. What famous person, whom many people may find attractive, is most unappealing to you?

I read someone else's answer about Ashton Kutcher - I have to agree with her on that. I also do not get anything out of the rappers that my students find sexy. In case there is actually anyone who is attracted to Snoop Dog - well, I think he looks like a crack dealer!

4. What famous person, whom many people may find unappealing, do you find attractive?

That's a toughie. I did like Danny DeVito's character in Living Out Loud - he was very appealing.

5. What popular trend baffles you?

When I was a teacher in Monticello, Georgia (around 1990), the boys started wearing their pants in a style we called "busting slack." You know what I'm talking about - wearing pants way too big, and letting them ride low, so that the crotch is hanging at the knees, and they have to constantly hitch them up. I can't believe they still do that!

This is an excerpt from an e-mail to a friend:

I went to see Love Actually. Actually, I got to the movies at what I thought was early, but there was a HUGE line, and the 7:15 show was sold out. So, I did what any sane person would have done. I purchased a ticket for Mystic River and got in line for popcorn and Diet Coke, with the intention of checking out the Love Actually auditorium on the off chance there was a viable seat!

After waiting 15 minutes to get popcorn (yes, I have a problem...), I was ready to go through with it. Some theatre worker said something as I was walking down the hall, but I assumed he was talking to the couple in front of me. I walked into the Love Actually feature, and immediately saw a lone, empty chair - normally reserved for wheelchair access. I snagged it! Lucky for me, no wheelchairs entered the building, and I had a great view!

I loved the film, but I could have done without the porn story... and maybe the bloke headed for Wisconsin. When he arrived and immediately met women, I was sure that he was going to be roused out of a dream on the plane at any minute. Yes, we're American women, and we are super-model sluts... Oh, and our president is a lech! ;-) But I loved Hugh Grant dancing to JUMP! - and Colin Firth is precious!