being the first Queen's Meme

Once upon a time in a faraway Bloggiverse there lived a maiden named Queen Mimi Pencil Skirt. She slayed her own dragons, stoked her own fire and well.....wrote memes by the light of the Bloggingham moon.

1. You are in court. You are in deep doo-doo. What did you do?('Cause if you want, I might could talk to the judge and get your sentence reduced to Bloggingham dungeon time.)
I cheated at the Royal Games. (I've always been bad at Parcheesi.)

2. Your blog just became a best-selling book . What is the title of your book ? Teabird Talks Tofurkey.

3. It is midnight. the phone rings. It is Michael Jackson calling from the Great Beyond. What would you like to ask him?
Did you really go to bed with Liz Taylor?

4. You are having your future told. The fortune teller looks in the crystal ball, screams and leaves the room in fright. What did they see?
My secret plan to clone Emily Dickinson.

5. You're blogging along minding your own blusiness (that's blog + oh...you know) when Google unexpectedly puts a Objectionable Content Warning on your blog. Your own mother is afraid to enter! What, pray tell, did you do to warrant it? How did this happen? Do you think you deserve it? Just how objectionable are you? Do tell.
Someone must have taken umbrage when I said that Microsoft is the antichrist.

6.You suddenly become God of the Universe. What would your first Commandment be?
Neither human nor yarn shall ever snarl again.

7.And finally... what secret would you like to tell the Queen? Not to worry. What happens in Bloggingham, stays in Bloggingham.

Brevity is the soul of wit. (I stole that.)

(I found this new meme via Autumn. Cool, yes? Click here to play along!)

Thursday tea

Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.

The tea: Black Pearl from Lipton. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive - just a very delicious black tea from Sri Lanka with a lovely, lingering flavour. I drink it plain, no sugar, especially at work. Lovely stuff.

The book: The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland, a novel about the life of Emily Carr. (See yesterday's post for an example of Carr's painting.) I'm loving this book as much as the other novels she's written about painters (all of which are on my night table to be read, or read again). The prose takes you there, whether it's inside the home of a basket-weaver, or in Paris where she discovers that Fauve and Post-Impressionist art can merge her artistic vision to her artistic technique.

Do they go together? Hmmm. Interesting. The novel takes place in a strict Canadian homestead, Native villages, and Paris. I would say that any tea would "go" with one of those places. Alas, the plain black tea would be most likely found in the most repressive of these, but since I loathe herbal teas and shy away from most flavored black ones, I guess I'll have to say that the novel goes with me, and so does my tea.

Thursday Tea

Thursday Tea is a meme, hosted by Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Log. I learned about it from Sandra at Fresh Ink (whose blog header is to die for...)

• "To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the willingness to answer some very simple questions: What tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together."

Since I'm not home, my tea is from a bag of Twinings Darjeeling. (The bag comes in a packet, which is environmentally unsound, but at least it's purple.) I have just begun to read People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, a novel about the very real Sarajevo Haggadah.

Does the tea complement the book? Oh yes, especially since this is the first day of Pesach. The tea tastes, to me, like a subtle but lingering wine. Drinking it, I imagine myself at a seder in Odessa with my great-grandfather. In the room lit by candlelight, I imagine the ancient story of liberation as I sip my delicate wine. Our Haggadah is plain, my family is scholarly, and the desire for freedom from tyrrany is ageless. I wrap my dark green shawl about my shoulders and listen to the youngest boy asking the Questions. At least for this moment, I am content.

the letter L

Terri (Reading, Writing, and Retirement) (and isn't that exactly what I want?) tagged me (because I asked) for the meme about ten of my favorite things. She gave me the letter L...




La Luna - the moon

Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" who "danced by the light of the moon."

Lamy fountain pens, which have become an obsession. Their xf nibs are smooth and elegant, and the pens themselves are just plain cute.

lace - knitted, tatted, bobbin, crocheted, netted. I just love lace. And I never, ever wear it.

Levenger (even though their version of a fine nib is unusably broad).

lemon sorbet (Haagen-Dasz!)

Sir Frederic Leighton -Pre-Raphaelite artist whose works include the lovely "Maid with the Golden Hair"


Lorna Doone cookies - or any shortbread, actually.

Loony Tunes - love my Tweetie!




Hugh Laurie. Oh yeah.








Would you like to play? Leave a comment and ask for a letter.

Musing Mondays

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about bookmarks…

• What do you use to mark your place while reading? Do you have a definite preference? Do you use bookmarks, paper, or (gasp) turn down the pages? If you use bookmarks, do you have a favourite?

Many friends have given me bookmarks, including hand-made with pressed flowers, or knitted. I use them, and they make me happy. So do the pretty/funny cards, holiday cards, and postcards that arrive in my happy place: the mailbox.

Don't say "dog ear" to me. (Hands over ears: la la la la la)

I do, occasionally, supplement the bookmarks with papers for note-taking, but the papers are usually stored towards the end of the book.

tagged!

Leah at The Octogon tagged me with the Book Edition of 7 things about me. This one is fun!

1. I love marginalia, but I never write any. All of the notes I take are in little notebooks or random scraps of paper, and they rarely find their way into the right book. Months after I've read the book, I'll find a scrap that says "Newfoundland, maybe?" and I'll have No Idea. None.

2. If Nancy Atherton ever stops writing her Aunt Dimity mysteries, I shall weep. Even though I haven't read the last 3 of them, I know that Reginald and Aunt Dimity are waiting for me.

3. When I was reading Janwillen van de Wetering's Amsterdam novels. I developed a yen for a sundae with vanilla ice cream with pineapple topping because he wrote about one.

4. When I was reading Falling in Place by Ann Beattie, I developeed a yen for Swiss cheese on pita bread with mushrooms (see above).

5. Not only did I love The Borrowers when I was young, I wanted to be one. Just as most young girls want to be Jo March, I wanted to be Arietty. Still do.

6. I still want to be Jo March, too.

7. One of my life goals is to walk Mrs. Dalloway's route in England.

Tagged: Basset Knitter Paula, Crescent Knitter Caitlin, Gubbinal, Rena at A Tradition of Quirky Artists, Kim at Handeye Crafts, Penguingirl, and Cats Who Knit.

Wordless Wednesday (with key)

I've seen this meme all over, and Gubbinal's results tempted me into trying it. I'm especially fond of the results for #12 : not one image in all of Flickr was tagged "teabird17," which means that my response to #11 must be true!



1) What is your first name? Melanie
2) What is your favorite food? cranberry muffin
3) What High School did you go to? Lindenhurst High School
4) What is your favorite color? periwinkle
5) Who is your celebrity crush Jeremy Irons
6) Favorite drink? orange pekoe tea
7. Dream vacation? Venice
8. Favorite desert? Italian cheesecake
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Writer
10. What do you love most in life? Creativity
11. One word to describe you? Unfinished
12. Your Flickr name? teabird17



Here’s how it works:

* Type your answers to each of the questions below into Flickr Search
* Using only the first page, pick an image
* Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker

Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

a meme, via Bridget

Rules: You must answer the questions using only one word. Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse.

2. Your significant other? Home.

3. Your hair? Looooooooooonnnnnnnng.

4. Your mother? Crazy.

5. Your father? Deceased.

6. Your favorite thing? Books.

7. Your dream last night? Lions.

8 Your favorite drink? Tea.

9. Your dream/goal? Author.

10. The room you’re in? "Office."

11. Your hobby? Knitting.

12. Your fear? Blindness.

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home.

14. What you’re not? Confrontational.

15. Muffins? Pumpkin.

6. One of your wish list items? Book.

17. Where you grew up? NY

18. The last thing you did? Eat.

19. What are you wearing? Jeans.

20. Favorite gadget? MP3.

21. Your pets? Plush.

22. Your computer? Dell.

23. Your mood? Anxious.

24. Missing someone? Always.

25. Your car? Green.

26. Something you’re not wearing? Fur.

27. Favorite store? Borders.

28. Like someone? No.

29. Your favorite color?Periwinkle.

30. When is the last time you laughed? Today.

31. Last time you cried? Today.

I'm going to tag Penny, Kata, and Paula.

tagged!

I've been tagged by UnionPearl Susette for the Six Questions meme. Here goes:


1. What was I doing ten years ago? Pretty much what I'm doing now: working, reading, writing in my journal, and writing letters. What I wasn't doing was... knitting. I started knitting after a long break in 2003 (I think). Knitting has brought new and beloved friends into my life, and given me many, many opportunities to buy yarn.

2. What are five things on my to do list? Vacuum, balance my checkbook, finish two baby projects before the recipient is born, catch up on letter-writing, and sleep through a night (not likely).

3. Snacks I enjoy. Lemon sorbet, animal crackers, tea and hot buttered toast, tea without hot buttered toast, but not hot buttered toast without tea. (shudder)

4. Things I would do if I were a billioniare? Donate many millions to The Heifer Project, Doctors Without Borders, PETA, Amnesty International, and Habitat for Humanity. I'd also travel with my husband to all of the places he's been longing to see again (China, Australia, Sweden, Denmark) and all of the places we've talked about.

5. Places I have lived? Long Island. That's it.

6. Peeps I want to know more about. Well now. I'm going to leave that to my peeps. Really, I'd like to know more about everyone!

By the way, do go and visit Susette. She's knitting an alphabet. My favorite of her letters - so far - is K, wherein she explores the art of one of my artistic philosophical idols, William Morris. (Reminder to self: Find a copy of The Wood Beyond the World. It's been way too long since I read it.)

pick up the nearest book...

I've been tagged by Barbara from Nova Scotia for a meme similar to one that I did last year, but it's a good one! So, here goes:

Pick up the nearest book.
Open on page 123.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the next three sentences.
Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Since I'm at work (shhhhhh), I picked up the next book to be cataloged: The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer.

• I would simply rest here until daybreak. But even as I thought it, in the street far below a sergeantly voice bawled, "Wheel it around this side! Over 'ere. 'Ow do you work the fool thing?"

I don't think I'll tag anyone but I'd love it if someone tagged herself and let me know. (Ahem, black-and-white cold-weather-bird-girl...)

when only a meme will do

I found this meme at Thinking About...


1. What book are you reading right now? I just started Pamela by Samuel Richardson on the recommendation of The Tsarina of Tsocks. I love it. What's not to love about an 18th-century epistolary novel? Just my cup of tea.

2. What was the last book you read on a plane? I haven't been on a plane in 12 years, and I don't remember.

3. What was the last book you read on a roadtrip? Well, I haven't been on a roadtrip for awhile either, but the book I've been toting along when I visit people and I know I might be reading instead of listening to twaddle the scintillating conversation is Emma.

4. What was the most unusual place you found yourself reading? See #2 and #3. I don't get out much. I do read while I'm cooking, though. I loathe cooking, so I read while I'm stirring whatever, or while whatever is coming to a boil.

5. What books would you take to keep you occupied on a two-week vacation to the beach? I don't go to the beach. The sun makes me sick, I don't like sand anywhere on my body, and I can't swim. However, should I find myself in a beach house, watching the surf and enjoying a sea breeze, I'd take The Mists of Avalon, Beatrix Potter: a life in nature, and Ocean Breezes: knitted scarves inspired by the sea. (And the appropriate yarn, of course.) All three are on my shelves, unread. What a joy it would be to have time to read them!

Let's see, whom shall I tag? The last two people who did this meme tagged three, so I will do the same -- Moon Rani at Tea Reads, Bridget at The Ravell'd Sleave, and Paula at Bassett Knitter -- plus anyone else who feels meme-ish.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

meme, via Carrie and Kim -

• Two names you go by: teabird and melanie
• Two things you are wearing right now: blue socks with a teacup pattern, forest green t-shirt
• Two of your favorite things to do: knit and write letters
• Two things you want very badly at the moment: more tea and enough yarn to finish a hat
• Two favorite pets you had/have: Marlo (the dearest cat in the world), and Cio Cio San (the smartest cat in the world)
• Two things you ate today: plain fat-free yogurt and Post cranberry-almond cereal
• Two people you just talked to: (does e-mail count?) my husband and Maven
• Two things you're doing tomorrow: having tea and a browse at Barnes & Noble, and reading
• Two longest car rides: Montreal, and Washington D.C. (both from Long Island)
• Two favorite holidays: Halloween, and Winter solstice
• Two favorite beverages: tea, and tea

Friday's feast

Friday's feast is a meme that posts five questions a week.
Today's questions:

Appetizer
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
The Huffington Post - an aggregator for news and blogs from the progressive side of the world. It's thorough, timely, funny, and quirky.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?
Eleven. (For those of you who have seen "This is spinal tap"...)

Salad
Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?
Many pets - Dogs (Blackie, Lassie, Le Roi de Champagne [don't blame me, my mother had a thing for fancy poodle names], Golda. Cats (Cio Cio San, Pumpkin, Nixie, Pyewacket). Parakeets (I don't remember their names, but one of them lived in the tv room with my grandmother, who exercised with Jack LaLanne every morning. The parakeet would chirp "one, two, one, two" as she did her jumping jacks!)

Main Course
If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?
Fountain pens. Need I say more?

Dessert
What is your favorite kind of hard candy?
Real lemon drops.

I don't even like orange!

You Are Cameo

You are understanding and very empathetic. You don't tend to have acquaintances. Everyone is your friend. And all of your friends tend to be friends. You have a knack for bringing very different people together.

What Color Orange Are You?

A meme, revisited

Via Dorothy, a Christmas meme. (And so early.........) I did an expanded version last year, and I decided to repeat it...Enjoy!

Since I'm Jewish, some of my answers aren't as specific as they might be, but it's a great meme, and the spirit of the holiday season brings generosity and gratitude into focus for us all.

Oh, and Adrienne -- you're tagged!


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, definitely.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Santa may dispense with wrapping paper if he likes!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, twinkly lights. Lovely.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? no.....
5. When do you put up your decorations? You mean, rearrange my stuffed bunnies? They're with me all year round.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Sorry, it has to be dessert. Pfefferneuse.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? receiving a book I really wanted.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? um.......
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I'll open gifts anytime!
10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas Tree? I always help decorate the tree in the library's staff room. I love icicles and candy canes.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread? At the beginning of winter, love it (under 4 "). By January, dread it (over 4").
12. Can you ice skate? HA! No. I can barely walk without falling. I'm way too clumsy to ice skate - unless you count the involuntary slippage where you lose your footing and break two ribs. (true)
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A copy of Little Women from my grandfather.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Opportunities and excuses to make donations in my friends' honor, and to knit for them.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pfefferneuse!
16 What is your favorite holiday tradition? Reading Christmas Carol. Is that odd for a Jewish woman? I don't think so - it affirms generosity.
17. What tops your tree? um......
18. What is your favourite holiday book? Christmas Carol or Little Women.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "Good King Wenceslaus" - again, the spirit of generosity. Ye who now would bless the poor, shall yourself find blessing.
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yummy? Yummy!

Wordless Wednesday

wordless Wednesday

(almost) wordless Wednesday

(In memoriam)

Frog and denim, music and ink

First, the music meme that Dorothy tagged me with (because if I start with the frogging, I'll just rant).

1. Name between 5 & 10 songs that have made an impact on your life. I'll leave it up to you to decide how many you wish to describe.
2. Pass it onto five other people with a link back to your own post and this one as the original.


Only 5-10 songs? I wrote out the first draft of this post at Barnes & Noble this morning, while drinking a large English Breakfast tea, and I filled 6 pages in my notebook. My writing is small. Just imagine how much I wrote... But I'll try to prune it down a bit.

I'll start with vocals - i.e., actual songs. Each of these captures the melancholy that underlies my personality.

• "Mas que nada" (Sergio Mendez) - although I don't know what the lyrics mean, the melody and the performance give me a sense of the gently-rueful state of mind, where you know something is lost, but the loss will leave only the whisper of a scar.
• "The Lady of Shalott" (Loreena McKennitt) - Tennyson's compassionate vignette of the young woman who is cursed to weave a tapestry of a world she is forbidden to see. McKennitt's harp and crystalline voice capture the Lady's enchantment, the moments when the Lady begins to become aware of how much she has lost ("half sick of shadows") and she releases herself from the spell ("the mirror crack'd') ,and the currents that bear her "down the river's dim expanse" to her death.
• "Heart Like a Wheel" (Kate and Anna McGarrigle) - a woman's stunned wonder at the loss of love, sung in sweet, high harmonies. "My heart is on that ship out in mid-ocean."
• "First We Take Manhattan" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" (Leonard Cohen, sung by Jennifer Warnes) - two moods, one sensibility, performed by one intelligent, expressive, no frills-singer.
• (Also, Cohen's "Hallelujah," sung by Rufus Wainwright.)
• "Humpty Dumpty" (Aimee Mann)- spare singing, with lyrics that perfectly express quiet despair ("all the perfect drugs and superheroes wouldn't be enough to bring me up to zero") .
• Honorable mention: Beatles "Things we said today", Supertramp "Take the long way home," Gerry Rafferty "The Ark," Richard & Mimi Farina "Children of darkness," Byrds "Mr. Tambourine man" and "Bells of Rhymney," Incredible String Band "Ducks on a pond."
  

Next, classical.

• Samuel Barber, "Adagio for Strings." This would break and nourish my heart even if I had not once played it (viola) behind a passionate conductor.
• Gabriel Faure, "Pavane" and "Sicillienne" from Peleas et Melisande
• Chopin, "Waltz in C# minor," performed by Jon Kimura, whose graceful and light arpeggios bring to mind the ballerinas of "Les Sylphides." (Many pianists use the arpeggios as excuses for egotistical flourishes.)
• Modest Mussorgsky,"The Old Castle" from Pictures at an Exhibition. A ghostly troubador recounts the downfall of an ancient family. (My vision, not the artist's. This was my signature piece when I played piano.)
• Joaquin Rodrigo, "Fantasia para un Gentilhombre." A sunny portico where an aging gentleman recalls his rich life. (Best performance: John Williams.)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams, "The Lark Ascending" and "Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis." These are the two pieces of music I would choose if I only could choose two. They soar, they haunt, they soar again.

I could go on - and on - and on -

Ok, I'll tag Bridget, Stephanie, Caitlin, Kim, and anyone else who feels like being tagged. Just let me know, ok?

And now, for something completely different:
I had to frog the socks. Somehow, I got to the foot before I realized that they were big enough for Hagrid. (Yes, my gauge was almost perfect. Something went awry.) I shall start again, but with a ribbed pattern, and fewer stitches on the needles...

Wordless Wednesday