Odds and ends about me

Interests: web design, singing (I'm a strong Alto and proud of it – it's where "altopower" came from!), travel, cooking, genealogy, reading, spending time with good friends, shopping eBay

Favorite authors: Katherine Kurtz, Katherine Neville, Nora Roberts, Barbara Delinski. Yup, all women. Not a coincidence.

Recent books read (fiction): The Book of the Dead (Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child); The Chatham School Affair (Thomas H. Cook); Memory in Death (Nora Roberts as J.D. Robb)

Favorite Books: The Eight (Katherine Neville); The Deryni series (Katherine Kurtz); The Cabinet of Curiosities (Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child)

Favorite movies: It's a Wonderful Life; Chariots of Fire; While You were Sleeping; Lord of the Rings trilogy; Field of Dreams

Last movies: Mrs. Brown, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chronicles of Narnia

Favorite music: Loreena McKennett, Mark Knopfler, Indigo Girls, Eva Cassidy, Queen … and the Tallis Scholars

What I Listen to: NPR in the car, an uptempo classic rock mix on the iPod, Tracy Chapman at work – for now. Things change fast 🙂

Favorite TV shows: CSI, Cold Case, 24, Lost, Medium, What Not to Wear, Antiques Roadshow, Clean Sweep, Survivor, Amazing Race, West Wing (now only in reruns on Bravo)

Some other favorites: the color red, cats, chocolate, massages, fresh tomatoes, hugs, the beach in the winter, Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, pedicures, chocolate, Christmas, good bread, eucalyptus, naps on rainy days, gerbera daisies, sleepy late night conversations, Baileys Irish Cream … did I mention chocolate?

My Myers Briggs Profile: ISFJ (Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging) :: Guardian-Protector

I am…
· strongly expressed introvert
· moderately expressed sensing personality
· distinctly expressed feeling personality
· strongly expressed judging personality

James Lipton's Bernard Pivot Questions:
Have you ever watched Inside the Actor's Studio on Bravo? At the end of every show the obsequious host asks the guest these 10 questions. He's annoying but the questions (and answers) are interesting. Here are mine, at least this week's edition:

1. What is your favorite word? — Grace

2. What is your least favorite word? — Fat

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? — Music

4. What turns you off? — Humiliation

5. What is your favorite curse word? — Shit

6. What sound or noise do you love? — Waves on the beach

7. What sound or noise do you hate? — Cars crashing

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? — Forensic scientist

9. What profession would you not like to do? — Sales

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? — Welcome home, love

Clean Sweep, Office Edition

I am addicted to Clean Sweep on TLC and am good about going through things at home to eliminate clutter and unncessary piles of the crap that just accumulates when I have my backed turned.  Books are a culprit but so are clothes that are arrayed in puddles of color divided up by size – the ones for now, the ones I used to be able to wear last year and still like enough to try to get back into, the ones for cold weather in assorted sizes.  The ones I used to wear but never really liked go in a bag for Goodwill. 

Work, however, is usually a mess. Our office is in an ugly and not always functional 1960's building that won design awards for someone who never had to work in it.  Storage space is remarkably limited, the furniture is mostly old and mismatched, and paper and clutter and unwanted chairs multiply like rabbits at night when we go home and close the door, leaving the place to the mice.

Today we declared Cleaning Day and were basically closed for business to everyone else except for urgent business.  I stocked up on cleaning supplies and healthy snacks – fruit and yogurt bars, 100-calorie snack packs – and brought lively tunes with me for motivation. You can't beat Motown. All 10 of us spent the day cleaning, sorting, piling, weeding, dumping, rearranging furniture, filling up both big recycle bins on the floor and overflowing the blue construction bin (for serious garbage) three times. 

We gave ourselves a break for pizza at lunch, with salad and fruit and homemade brownies, made by yours truly.  I treated the staff rather than ask them to chip in, as a thank you for their hard work. At the end of the day, the air was redolent with lemon disinfectant and surfaces were clean and organized.  We were pretty grubby looking ourselves but satisfied to have made such visible progress.