Well, Sarah had me pegged, alright.  Noting that my blog has been a little “quiet” lately, she thought that I would be a likely candidate for copying the meme she posted a few days ago.  Well, I shall not disappoint.  Break out the mulled cider (see #5), string up some white lights (see #15), and throw that jolly old fat man in his sleigh…away we go!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper, because I like to create a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing package.  That being said, if the gift is oddly-shaped, a gift bag is a great alternative.
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial.  And pre-lit since last year.  I do have fond memories of the real trees of my past: the ones my dad would cut himself from the woods behind our house; and the one that Sarah, Marlene, and I had in our Troy shithole apartment – the tree we had to nail to the windows with string, because the dueling cats kept knocking it over, the same one that got so dry that it closed up like an umbrella and “ate” several of our ornaments.  Remember that one?
3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? January 6.  Isn’t that a rule or something?
5. Do you like eggnog? <gack> No.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmm.  So many.  Probably the AM/FM radio, small, chrome finish, black buttons.  I carried that thing around everywhere.  Must be where I got my love of radio…
7. Hardest person to buy for? My father, hands down.  There’s only so much hunting gear you can buy someone.  Second place: my husband.  He’s the kind of guy who buys what he wants when he wants it, leaving you nothing to choose from for Christmas!
8. Easiest person to buy for? My sisters.  We like the same things.  As a matter of fact, last year Leanne and I bought each other the same EXACT gift.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I haven’t put it out in a while.  The thatched roof on the manger has begun to shed.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.  But maybe I’ll try the email thing this year.  I must say, though, I love RECEIVING cards.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don’t actively remember ever disliking a gift I received, but there is a favorite family story: apparently, my grandparents bought me a Close-and-Play record player when I was little (maybe 4 yrs old).  When Grandma asked me how I liked it, I said “I really hate it.”
12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story.  Duh.
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yup.  Hopefully my sisters aren’t reading this… 
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Besides Christmas cookies, I don’t really have any Christmas food traditions.
15. Lights on the tree? white.lights.only.
16. Favorite Christmas song? “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses.  It’s just not Christmas without it!  My absolute least favorite: “A Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney.  I want to kill myself when I hear it.  Seriously.  Just to make it stop.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually no travel on Christmas Day itself, though we head down to my parents house on the weekend after.
18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yes.
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Big obnoxious star with white lights.
20. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both, because Bob likes to open gifts on Christmas Eve, and I like to save them for Christmas morning.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Getting accosted by charities when shopping.  I will drop some money into the Salvation Army kettles, because they don’t chase you down as you enter/leave the store.  I have been known to exit the store from a different entrance, much further away from my car, after telling a girl soliciting for military families (I think) that I’d give her some money on my way out.  Thank God Al Gore invented the internet, so I don’t have to go the mall anymore.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Nope.  Which for me is surprising.  I just like to hang up all the ornaments that I’ve had since Nursery school.  I seriously have one for every year I’ve been alive.  Thanks, Mom!  And Mom just bought me a new 2008 one from Disney World!
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? I don’t know.  I truly have everything I need, and just about everything I want.  The only thing lacking is some self-discipline, but I don’t think that’s available at Target (yet).
24. Who is most likely to respond to this? Probably no one.  <sigh>
25. Who is least likely to respond to this? Everyone I know.

Here’s how it works:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here www.wendalicious.wordpress.com linking to your results.

Note to Novices: I’ve added a link to the more obscure offerings.  Even I didn’t know a few of them…

The list after the jump…

The Wendalicious Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile: I’ve had fried alligator nuggets – does that count?
6. Black pudding: at Eamonn’s once, on St. Patrick’s Day.  I must have been drunk.
7. Cheese fondue: I grew up in the 70′s, didn’t I?
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari: I thought they were onion rings.
    
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi: it’s bolded, I’ve eaten it.  And man is it good!
    
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes: quite a lot, as it happens.
19. Steamed pork buns: Chinese comfort food (for me, anyway)
20. Pistachio ice cream: just the other night!  mmmmm…
    
21. Heirloom tomatoes: I had some tonight!
    
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper: why would I do a stupid thing like that?
27. Dulce de leche: not yet, but it sounds pretty damn good…
28. Oysters: yuck.
    
29. Baklava: Dessert of the Greek Gods. Mount Olympus-y!
    
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl: I’m severely allergic to clam chowder, unfortunately.  Found that out the hard way one vacation in Cape Cod…
    
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O: remember those parties I used to have, with the Jell-O fishbowl?  I don’t.
    
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal: I‘d try a little…and wash it down with some lassi
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more: If someone bought it for me…I can’t afford it.
46. Fugu No. F***ing. Way.
    
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal: sadly, fatly, yes.
    
56. Spaetzle: in fact, I make my own!  Recipe coming someday…
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV: Molson XXX (14%), smuggled in from Canada, back in college
    
59. Poutine: looks kinda gross, but I’d try it.
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads: though my neighbor Chef Mark is lobbying HARD to get me to try them…
63. Kaolin: this is a ROCK.  Why is this on the list?
64. Currywurst.  Sounds interesting…
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs: gives me the creeps
    
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake All of the above!
    
68. Haggis: uh, no.
69. Fried plantain: at a Cuban restaurant in Florida…oh my, yummy!
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette. No thank you to both.
71. Gazpacho: made some last week!
    
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill. What?
    
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie: again, sadly.
78. Snails
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant  I fear I will NEVER get this opportunity, since it involves actually traveling outside the U.S. (and my dear hubby lately is a bit of a homebody)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare, rabbit. I am still haunted by a horrible childhood memory of a skinned Bugs Bunny lying in my Grandma’s kitchen sink
    
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate.  If it’s chocolate, I’m in.
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. I wasn’t impressed.  Now I want to try some Kopi Luwak…
    
100. Snake

My score is 50, 51 if you count the crocodile.  I’m nowhere NEAR as adventurous as someone called Wendalicious should be.  But I’m okay with that.

TECHNOLOGY

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer? Work: a pcture of my nephew from his 1st birthday party. Home: The tulips one that comes with Windows XP.

Q. How many televisions you have in your house? Two that we use regularly, one that’s not hooked up to anything, and one in the attic.

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed? Lefty – except for scissors.

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body? All 4 wisdom teeth, a couple skin tags, and a mole from inside my belly button (seriously).

Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted? my computer monitor

Q. Have you ever been knocked out? No.

BULLSHITOLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Nope.

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Mrs. Bill Gates

Q. What color do you think looks best on you? Coral or bronze

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item? Not on purpose (I’m sure I’ve downed a bug or two)

DAREOLOGY

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Probably not.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No way.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000? Uh…yeah?

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? Sure. If they’re dumb enough to pay it, I’ll take it off.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Hmmm…no.

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? No.

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket? No pockets.

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie? Sort of – it improves with repeated watching and alcohol consumption. There are quite a few great lines.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house? Both.

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower? Stand. No other choice.

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own? Two

LASTOLOGY

Q: Last person who texted you? My sister Kristen

Q: Last person who called you? Mom

Q: Person you hugged? My friend Cristina, whom I haven’t seen in 4 years.

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number? 54

Q: Season? Fall.

Q: Color? Purple

CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone? Always

Q: Mood? Calm.

Q: Listening to? Mets game, but not by choice.

Q: Watching? My life slip away as I blog…

Q: Worrying about? Surprisingly, nothing.

Q: Wearing? Cape Cod t-shirt, pajama pants.

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning? Dry cleaners

Q: What can you not wait to do? Move out of NY

Q: Do you smile often? Lately, yes.

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t.

Here are my quotes:

1. I’m poor, black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here. I’m here.
2. What are you looking at? You’re laborers; you should be laboring. That’s what you get for not having an education. (Chris got it – my ALL TIME favorite movie – “Real Genius”)
3. How ’bout a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray? (Sweetpea got it first – it’s “Weird Science”)
4. You can’t scare her, she’s sleeping with Prince Valium tonight.  (Shannon nabbed this one – “Beetlejuice”)
5. You know, it says here that by the time the average American is fifty, he has five pounds of undigested red meat in his bowels (Marlene got it – “Beverly Hills Cop”)
6. OK! I’ll talk! In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max’s toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. (Shannon wins another – “Goonies”)
7. It’s Lieutenant Hurwitz. Severe shell-shock. Thinks he’s Ethel Merman. (Chris takes this one – “Airplane!”)
8. God was singing through this little man to all the world, unstoppable, making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar.
9. Oh, and remember: next Friday… is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. (Sweetpea tentatively guessed it right first, and Chris confirmed it…”Office Space”)
10. Seven schools in seven states and the only thing different is my locker combination.

Wow! It seems I haven’t seen a decent movie since 1985…

The rules:

* link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
* share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

The five bits of random-and/or-weirdness:

1. I absolutely hate celery. As a foodie, I know this is odd, but I cannot stand the stuff. What a complete waste of chewing.
2. I own 72 cookbooks. I plan on buying more. They’re like crack.
3. A boy I had a huge crush on in high school is now a woman. He was actually my “run away guy” – the guy that every woman has who, if he showed up on her doorstep tomorrow and asked her to run away with him, she would. Looks like I have to find another guy to fill that role. He makes a very pretty woman (although I thought he was pretty cute as a boy).
4. I once was featured on a local news show, in a “before and after”makeover segment. I actually looked better in the “before” pictures. The makeover made me look like a $2 hooker. No photos exist – sorry.
5. My eyes are blue on some days, and green on others. It depends on what I’m wearing, I think. Sometimes, they’re green with blue around the outside.

The tagged:

Sweetpea, Roon. I don’t know anyone else with a blog!

What Holiday Food Are You?

Thanks, Sweetpea! I thought I might turn out to be a trifle, as well, but I guess you and I aren’t as alike as I thought!

What a sucky day. Snowfall of about a million feet, and got rear-ended on the treacherous drive home. I was making aright turn from State Street onto Erie Blvd. in Schenectady(WITH the green arrow, by the way), and a pedestrian just strolled out in front of me. I hit the brakes, and WHAM!

Nothing major, but certainly an annoyance that just made the day even suckier. At least there wasn’t much damage to either car 9and no injuries). BUT – I of course have filed a claim with the other insurance company! It was most assuredly not my fault. But the lady was nice and wished me a happy holiday after we exchanged information.

And I have to say, even though they’re not my insurance carrier, the folks at Progressive were awful nice. Obviously, I have not been paid to say that. We’ll see how the rest of the experience goes – I am visiting the Progressive Concierge Service Center on Wednesday to have the bumper repaired.

<sigh>