[a is for age:]
We won’t start out well if that’s your first question. MYOB!
[b is for booze of choice:]
I like margaritas. But in general – my booze of choice is scotch and soda.
[c is for career:]
Renaissance girl.
[d is for your dog’s name:]
I have … no dog … (rip at shirt like Laurence Olivier in The Jazz Singer)
[e is for essential items you use everyday:]
Oil of Olay regenerist night cream. Can’t live without it. It’s like a mini face-lift. Amazing. Also my Eucerin Q-10 anti-wrinkle cream that I use in the morning. I’ve been a loyal fan of that product for years. I hope they never discontinue it. Also – my plastic barrettes. I wear a plastic barrette every day.
[f is for favorite song(s) at the moment:]
“The Wizard and I” from Wicked
I am also having a big ol’ Avril Lavigne moment and falling in love with Sk8er Boi all over again.
[g is for favorite games:]
Trivial Pursuit. Pictionary.
[h is for hometown:]
Let’s just say that Washington slept there.
[i is for instruments you play:]
Piano.
[j is for jam or jelly you like:]
The only time I like jelly is when I buy a strawberry-jelly donut from Dunkin Donuts, which is about once a decade. I love that jelly. But I never use it on my own. Blech.
[k is for kids:]
I have … no kids … (rip at shirt like Laurence Olivier in The Jazz Singer)
[l is for last kiss:]
He was Irish. That is all I will say.
[m is for most admired trait:]
Hmmm. I’m loyal. I’m smart. I’m funny. You’ll have to ask my friends what they must admire about me. It might be my freckes, I have no idea.
[n is for name of your crush:]
Patrick. (To my friends: no, not THAT Patrick!)
Oh, and also that random guy in Soldier’s Girl who was a soldier and wore a cowboy hat and had a chunky body that I loved. Whoever THAT guy is … is my crush.
[o is for overnight hospital stays:]
Never.
[p is for phobias:]
“s”. “t”. These qualify as PHOBIAS. Which is different than plain old fear, or not liking something.
[q is for quotes you like:]
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
— Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
“Make voyages. Attempt them. That’s all there is.”
– Tennessee Williams in Camino Real
“”It is not that important to know who you are. It is important to know what you do, and then do it like Hercules.”
— Stella Adler
“Develop interest in life as you see it, in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
– Henry Miller
“Learn to pretend there’s more than love that matters.”
– Indigo Girls
[r is for biggest regret:]
Bah. I have a ton of regrets.
[s is for sweets of your choice:]
I guess, if I had to say, I would say Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. I just don’t have a sweet tooth.
[t is for time you wake up:]
6:00 am
[u is for underwear:]
I LOVE the new underwear the Gap has right now and have bought a gazillion pairs. Cotton, wonderfully made … I like the ones that are almost like boy’s underwear. I have a couple pairs of those. So comfy and also very very cute-looking.
[v is for vegetables you love:]
Broccoli. Red peppers. Purple onion.
[w is for worst habit:]
Nail biting.
[x is for x-rays you’ve had:]
Uhm – at the dentist.
[y is for yummy food you make:]
I very much enjoy how I place the strawberries on my Grape Nuts cereal. It is terrifically yummy. I made it myself. Hmmm. No, I make a good chicken and vegetables smorgasbord, involving garlic, and balsamic vinegar and a lot of improvisation. It is a staple in my small household of one.
[z is for zodiac sign:]
Sagittarian
Dearest: Laurence Olivier was in the Jazz Singer? love, dad
Dad – he was in the remake of it with Neil Diamond. He is a Rabbi, I believe – who is so horrified at his son’s secular life that he tears his shirt and says, in a choked voice, “I haf … no son …” Mitchell and I always imitate that moment.
I have only seen the film once – and that was on our Aer Lingus flight from Boston to the Shannon airport way back when when we were kids.
Patricks are good fellows. I know this.
chicken and vegetables smorgasbord, involving garlic, and balsamic vinegar
My>/i> household of one is curious.
Im in a Meme Mood
Life has been CRAZY – I never know what the week is going to bring. Other homeschool Moms tell me this is the NORM. I certainly hope so. So all …
Marinate chicken in a balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard concoction. Place in oven. At 350 degrees. I cut up garlic cloves and put them ALL OVER THE CHICKEN. I’m a garlic freak. I bake it for about half an hour. Meanwhile, I prep the veggies. Broccoli, onions, red peppers – sometimes tomato. Chop them. I also dip them in the balsamic marinade goulash and then – when the chicken has about 15 minutes left in the oven I place the vegetables in the pan with the chicken. (I don’t like vegetables that are too cooked. I like them semi-crispy – so the timing is essential here). Bake for another 15 minutes – and take it out. It’s very simple – very healthy – and I bake BUTTLOADS of it at a time and bring it as lunches, or have it as leftovers, yadda yadda. I’m not a fancy cooker, obviously. But I love my chicken/veggie concoction. I cook it on Sunday afternoons so I can have it to nibble on throughout the week.
From one not-fancy cook to another, thanks for the recipe, Sheila! Looks absolutely scrumptious.
As for being a garlic freak (which I am as well), that brings up a law school anecdote. I have NO idea how this subject came up in class, but one of my classmates, every inch the image of a Brooklynite Italian (where talking straight out of Saturday Night Fever here, seriously…or maybe more like My Cousin Vinny, given the context), for one reason or another says something about there being no such thing as too much garlic.
The professor immediately drops whatever he was doing. This is Advanced Criminal Practice and he’s an adjunct, a longtime high-profile Louisiana criminal defense attorney. I will never forget his response:
“Boy, this is NEW ORLEANS. I can take you places that PROVE there’s such a thing as too much garlic.”
I’ve always loved that Indigo Girls quote.
And Grape Nuts is good stuff, especially with strawberries and a little drizzle of honey.
roo – that quote has been one of the keys for me – the key to living a happy life.
and GO GRAPE NUTS. mmmmmmmmm
I’ll have to give the recipe a shot. However, I’ll have to make less because I literally become mildly nauseous when it comes to leftovers. The only thing I can attribute it to is the fact that I grew up in a house with 12 siblings and there were NEVER leftovers so I never actually ate them. I mean, we had Thanksgivings and Christmases without leftovers. For real.
I too like the Indigo Girls line, but I really like the Wood Song.
I love that one too. “And the wood is tired … and the wood is old …” The harmonies just kill me!
The ABCs of Beth
via Sheila [a is for age:] 25 [b is for booze of choice:] Amaretto sour. Difficult, believe it or not, to make correctly. [c is for career:] Journalist. [d is for your dog’s name:] No dog. [e is for essential
“so shines a good deed..” that line pops up in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, doesn’t it?
Thank God for movies, otherwise I would never get any Shakespeare in my life.
For the record, I watched “Mystic River” on my Aer Lingus flight. The audio port on my seat was bad, and so the track was trashed with random static. I felt quite ripped off. So, two things I noticed, the beautifully Irish flight attendant apologized in such a way that she became my crush of the week AND the ‘Mystic River’ performances must be watched without dialog sometime, I was mesmorized by the performances…