Meme Me

Before we start, think of a number from 1 to 10....
...Got it? OK, hang on to it.

Loopylulu tagged me with this book meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

In truth, the nearest books to me are all knitting books, and well, this is already a knitting blog, so I chose the nearest non-knitting book. This is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon.

"I wondered if he was asleep downstairs or whether he was waiting to come in and kill me. So I got out my Swiss Army knife and opened the saw blade so that I could defend myself. Then I went out of my bedroom really quietly and listened."

It is about a young man with mild Autism who solves a mystery about a dog, and about himself. It gives a very interesting perspective on Pervasive Developmental Disorders. It is a quick read and is pretty fascinating. I'd definitely recommend it!


And then PinkRoseCottageLady tagged me for the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

I was still in school. I was in school for seemingly forever--it would have been 20th grade at the time :-)

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

-Finish watching the first season of 24
-Figure out how to get dried oobleck off of the carpet (don't ask)
-Wait for a delivery at home
-Fuel up on gas
-Knit!

3) Snacks I enjoy:

-Chocolate, as long as it's not too dark, ice cream and most other frozen concoctions, Japanese rice crackers, kettle corn, funnel cake.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I found this to be a very interesting question. The truth is, I am lucky enough to have been able to create a situation where I live my day-to-day life pretty much the way I want to. I'd still work because it's fulfilling, and of course I'd still knit! We'd still do the housework ourselves because it's something we've always thought was important to do. However, we do have help with the yardwork. And we order or eat out a lot because I pretty much hate to cook and am not good at it either. So I don't think I'd really change much of that at all. We wouldn't get a bigger house because we don't need it (and we don't want to spend all our time cleaning it). We do get to travel a good amount already (or at least as much as we can with kids so young and one in school), but I guess we would travel even more.

The main change would be in how much we give away and in what way. Instead of giving to charities, I would want to give anonymously to people whose stories touch me in some way. You know, the stories that you see on the news or hear on NPR that just make you shake your head or cry. I'd love to be able to buy a home for someone who lost theirs, pay medical bills for someone who is struggling to treat a difficult condition, or pay tuition for a deserving student who cannot make ends meet. As much good as the large charities do, they can't distribute their resources in this way, and it would be magical to be able to do so. Oh wait! I would donate to the X Prize Foundation because I love this concept.

5) Places I have lived:

Vietnam, New Orleans, St. Louis, Little Rock, Houston

6) Jobs I have had:

Lab tech, test prep teacher, tutor, assistant professor

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

Remember how you chose a number at the beginning? If you chose the number 9 and haven't done these memes yet and want to, consider yourself tagged!

Knitting content to come soon, so stay tuned!