What does this say about me??

Every so often I find myself surfing around Goodreads, just to see what total strangers are reading. Some people keep their profiles, and therefore their bookshelves, private (like me- I went private after the girls got their own profiles, and I didn't want people to link to their sites from mine), but others keep everything public.

It's pretty fascinating actually, to see what kind of things people are reading/have read/want to read. Like this one lady I just came across. She had a good mixture of chick lit, thrillers, children's/YA, self-help and recent bestsellers. She also had at least a dozen or so books dealing with addictions; food and alcohol mainly. It'd be really easy to make some snap judgments about her, right?

So that leads me to wonder what judgments a total stranger would make about me, based solely on my list of books. Personally, I think it would show that I am a well-read, eclectic person with a keen sense of humor. ;)

So here's a montage of 200 books I have listed over at Goodreads. What do you think it says about me?

Jennifer's book montage

Powered by Goodreads.com

Note: I'll make my profile public for a few days. If you click on a book, it will take you to my Goodreads review.

Interests, Part II

Katheryn has the right idea- post first thing in the morning and it's over and done with! Anyway, before my Saturday kicks into high gear (laundry, grocery shopping, library trip, Stake youth dance tonight for James, progressive dinner for the girls' Primary class for me) I'm getting my post in.

One with the interests...

Shauna asked about
6. Volkswagens
From the time I was about 14 or so, my dream has been to own a 21 Window Samba Volkswagen Bus, 1967 or older. When I was 16, my friend Damon had a lime green VW camper, and that thing was the coolest ever. (Not so cool, though, was the time it broke down in the middle of the old Fuller Warren Bridge! Luckily it was on a Sunday and traffic was light. ;D)

Within thirty minutes of meeting James I learned that he too was a VW enthusiast! Since we had little else in common, we figured that was enough to build a relationship on, and here we are, 12 years later. How VWs is the only magazine we've subscribed to consistently throughout our marriage. When we were first married, we used to spend our Saturdays driving around metor Atlanta going to junkyards, hoping to spot a diamond in the rough for dirt cheap.

It wasn't until two years ago that we found our diamond, here in Albany of all places. For our tenth anniversary, James bought me an iPod, and I bought him a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. Sadly, we also bought a house at the same time, so poor Sally (which is what the girls named the car) has sat under a tarp for most of that time, just waiting for the day when James has time and money to restore her to her former glory. We figure that will be just about when the girls are ready to start driving.

Beckie asked about
7. Beach Vacations

I love the beach. I love being close to the ocean. I just physically feel better. I honestly don't think I could live in a land-locked state. Can I just tell you how much I hate that we leave four hours away from the closest beach???

These days, our favorite beach spot is St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, down on the Gulf of Mexico. It's a gorgeous beach. James and I went and stayed down there for a weekend a few years back. I can't wait to go back!

Both Beckie and Shauna asked about
8. Snark

Snark- it's my second language. ;) It's like sarcasm, only much funnier. To fluent in snark you must be able to have command of the witty comeback. Snark is more intelligent than sarcasm. There's also the element of "There but the grace of God...". Snark is self-aware, and rarely mean-spirited. Also known as "Being snarky".

And now I leave you with some visual snark. (Background- my sister Helen asked me to take pictures of Samantha's first birthday. How many pictures of a one year old eating cake do you need, I ask?? To amuse myself- and Helen, when she developed the pictures- I took other random pictures during the party. Here's my favorite.)



And my second favorite:

PSA

Due to unexpected but fortuitous circumstances, Jennifer chose to go shopping, then out to dinner, then out for ice cream, then shopping again with her family, rather than posting a blog, er, post.

Tune in tomorrow for something new and exciting!

Tree Fort Management, Inc

Me? I have lots of interests. That's because I'm an interesting person.

A few posts back I asked you to comment on my interests, and then I would tell you about them. (Don't worry if you didn't get a chance to comment with an interest- go ahead and pick one and leave the comment under this post.)

Stacey's picks:
1. Chocolate
Seriously tasty stuff. I'm a dark chocolate girl all the way- none of that pansy milk chocolate stuff for me, and white chocalate is just nasty. I always thought my SIL Beckie was more than just a little nuts when she PURPOSELY didn't eat any chocolate for something like two years. Life is just better with chocolate!

2. Dr. Pepper
I won't lie- I love me some Dr. Pepper. I'll grudgingly drink a Mr. Pibb in a pinch, but it doesn't taste the same.

Katheryn's picks:
3. Harriet Vane
Harriet Vane is a character from one of my favorite books, Busman's Honeymoon, written by Dorothy L. Sayers. I love Sayers' books, and I especially love Harriet. Harriet is what Anne Shirley would have been had Anne been born 30 years later.

4. Paper Art
I am fascinated what can be created with just paper. Some of my favorite children's book illustrators (Lois Lenski, Denise Fleming, Leo Lionni) use nothing but paper. I love origami, but I don't have the patience to do it myself.

Both my mom and Beckie asked about

5. Broadway Musicals
I love musicals. I remember when mom used to let me stay up past my bedtime to watch musicals that came on TV- Camelot, The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, Gigi- the list goes on. For Spring Break during my senior year of High School, I went to New York for a week. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing to shows- Miss Saigon and Crazy For You.

I've seen lots of local productions, and been in a few myself, but there's nothing like seeing professionals bring the story to life. The list of things I want to see is a mile long, but I'll stick with three currently running shows: Wicked, Spamalot and Guys and Dolls. And man alive, I'd give my right arm to have seen Julie Andrews in her prime.

Part Two to come later. You're on pins and needles, I know. :P

Be like all the cool kids!

I've added some favorites to the sidebar. I plan on changing them every so often. So charitable of me, don't you think, bringing my favorite things to the masses? A bit like Oprah, in a way.

Don't I know it

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Social Nerd   You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go so far as to call you a hippie, but some of you may be tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possible the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activies that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around. ^_^
Drama Nerd
Literature Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Musician
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Monday, Monday

I don't know if anyone knows this, but I have a somewhat dramatic personality. You're shocked to find this out, aren't you? It's true, though.

You can imagine the internal dramatics that kicked in when Madeline woke James and I up at 3:00 am to tell us that Isabella was throwing up. The drama then returned at 6:45 when I went to wake Madeline up for school and she started throwing up, too. All of this was after the decidely external dramatics that occurred last night when we discovered that Madeline has lost her $250 retainer.

In other words, I'm drama-d out.

Thankfully, I don't have school today or tomorrow. (The preschool follows a different school system's calendar than the calendar the girls' school system follows.) I'm going to spend the whole day thinking positively. The girls don't have a stomach virus- they are simply exhausted from all of the 'fast living' of the past week and weekend!

Now I'm off to coat every surface in our house with a layer of Lysol.

One thing down, one hundred things to go...

Today was our Primary Program. It's probably my most favorite Sunday out of the entire year. To top it all off, we got done FIFTEEN MINUTES early! YES!

Both Madeline and Isabella gave talks, and I was so proud of them. They had worked very hard on the talks, and they were well-prepared (moreso than some adult speakers I've heard! :P). They are both growing up to be so confident and well-spoken.

Out of my seven Sunbeams, only two participated. Two twin brothers were sick, two little girls were no-shows, and one little boy did a great job all through the practices, but got stage fright when he saw all the congregation filing in and made a beeline for his mother before the program even started! But the two who participated did a great job, and I'm proud to be their teacher.

PS- It's not too late to respond to my last post! I won't respond to it till later in the week, so join in the fun!

Taking the easy way out

Go to my profile. Look at my interests. Pick two and I'll tell you about them. :)