Mortaine’s Blog

I took some better pics of the demon miniature.

Usually writing is like long-term therapy. I write stuff out, but usually when I’m emotional I can’t let go; writing then just becomes a draft for what I’ll say to their face later (which is why I’m so fucking articulate in an argument).

But in this case…. it worked. I have a much lower desire to confront the bitch with her stupidity. I feel like just letting it go. I don’t even need to acknowledge (to her) that she said rude things to me that bothered me.

I am an ocean, washing away the anger.

Err…. right. Now give me the brain, dammit. I need to make a cheeseburger.

This meme is going around…. I’m going to answer it later, though, so you all have a chance to copy/paste it yourselves before I fill it up with my own lame answers.

ANGER
1. Who did you last get angry with? Lana from work (the whole Part number fiasco).
2. What is your weapon of choice? Uhh…. a sword or a bow/arrow.
3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? Yes.
4. How about of the same sex? Yes.
5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? Probably Lana, but she was cool and professional about it.
7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? I let go easily, but when I keep a grudge, I keep it.

SLOTH
1. What is one thing you’re supposed to do daily that you haven’t done in a long time? Exercise.
2. What is the latest you’ve ever woken up? Probably around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon.
3. Name a person you’ve been meaning to contact, but haven’t: Holly, my best friend. It’s time to call her.
4. What is the last lame excuse you made? Oh, hell. Last night: “I’m too tired to go to NaNo– I wanna go hooome.”
5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through (one of the long ones…)? No.
6. When was the last time you got a good workout in? Meep! According to my memories, January 23.
7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today? Two or three– I think I was asleep for one of them.

GLUTTONY
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice? Mmmmm…. Mocha. I drink a non-fat mocha without whipped cream every morning.
2. Meat eaters: white meat or dark meat? Dark meat.
3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you’ve had in one sitting/outing/event? Over a bottle of red wine. I was very very very sick.
4. Have you ever used a professional diet company? Yes.
5. Do you have an issue with your weight? Yes.
6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? Yes. Except the spicy.
7. Have you ever looked at a small housepet or child and thought, “LUNCH?” Yes. Not about the housepet, but it seems like a reasonable way to quiet a child.

LUST
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)? At the same time? Uh…. dozens? I used to work at a hot tub spa.
2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting physicians/family)? Same. Well, unless you count online…. 3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation? Well, duh. Yeah.
4. Have you “done it”? (This question should really be “how many people have you ‘done it’ with?”) Yes. With no fewer than five people. Not at the same time, though.
5. What is your favorite body part on a person of your gender of choice? Mind.
6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? Not yet.
7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy? Yes. Standard post-rape kit includes tests for just about everything, thanks. And follow-ups for HIV for at least a year. Plus, well, I dated. SOP for serious dating is to get an HIV test for your partner.

GREED
1. How many credit cards do you own? Ummm…. three?
2. What’s your guilty pleasure store? Bookshop Santa Cruz. Or a gaming store.
3. If you had $1 million, what would you do with it? Erf. Well, I’d make sure my family stopped having money worries, that’s for sure.
4. Would you rather be rich, or famous?You can’t be famous without being or getting rich. You can be infamous, though. I’d rather be famous.
5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks?Ummm…. what am I doing right now?
6. Have you ever stolen anything? Yes. I gave it back.
7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive? Hundreds. All legal.

PRIDE
1. What one thing have you done that you’re most proud of? Are you kidding? I’m phenomenal! I can’t limit that to just one!
2. What one thing have you done that your parents are most proud of? Mom’s proud of everything I do– my books and my MA and my spouse and… yeah. Dad– I have no idea if my dad is proud of anything I’ve done. He should be, though.
3. What thing would you like to accomplish in your life? You mean something I haven’t already? Umm…. I’d like to fly an airplane or spacecraft.
4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Yes, if it’s something I think I should have won. No if it’s something that the other guy deserved.
5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? No. I tried that once and lost. It was very humbling.
6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yes. My IQ test.
7. What did you do today that you’re proud of? I shared my scholarly notes on Shakespeare with my friend Inga.

ENVY
1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own? I want Tenshi’s pika. And not because I want pikas. Just ’s.
2. Who would you want to go on “Trading Spaces” with? My sister, because she would do a great job.
3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be? If I had to be someone else, I would want to be an alien overlord hurtling towards Earth with the power to obliterate anyone and anything, but with a mission of dictating peace.
4. Have you ever been cheated on? Aside from Sean, who I have no proof actually cheated on me– no.
5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? Yes.
6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Perfect vision? A propensity to not being overweight. Perfect boobs?
7. Do you wish you’d come up with this survey? Uh, no. It’s a kind of lame survey.

Finally, what is your favorite deadly sin? Gee…. ya think it’s pride?

FAITH
1. What religion do you follow? Atheism.
2. What religion were you raised as? Atheist.
3. Do you believe that forgiveness is a religious property, or a human property? Human.
4. Do you believe in magic? Oddly, yes.
5. What was the last promise you broke? My new years resolution was to lie less– I’ve lied 3 times this year, so I broke it.
6. Have you ever said the words to a prayer and not meant it? Uh, no. I’ve never said the words to a prayer.
7. Do you believe that anyone could be perfect? No. Perfection is not real.

HOPE
1. Did you get everything you wanted over the last holiday season? Just about.
2. Regarding your future, what is the best thing you could hope for? Enough wealth to be independent of work/jobs.
3. Do you let yourself get your hopes up for something even if you know that there is a large chance of failure? Yes.
5. Have you ever bought a lottery ticket? Yes.
6. Do you gamble? Yes.
7. Have you ever had something called off on account of bad weather, but then gone ahead and done it anyway? What’s the biggest/most tangible wish you ever had, and did it come true? In the second grade, I wished my parents would get back together. They did, but it only lasted another 2 1/2 years.

CHARITY
1. What causes do you support? free speech, free choice, free software, labor unions, peace, right to privacy, public education, women’s issues
2. What causes have you given money or time to? free speech, free software, labor unions, peace, right to privacy, public education, women’s issues
3. Have you ever worked in a soup kitchen or done another kind of outreach for the homeless? No.
4. Would you ever consider joining the Peace Corps, Amnesty International, or another travel-inherent worldwide charity group? Yes, but I wouldn’t do it because I don’t like bugs that much.
5. Do you give money to the homeless on the street? Only in special situations.
6. Have you ever helped out a friend with basic needs, like rent or food? Yes, informally.
7. What’s the greatest extent you’ve gone to help a friend in need? I…. don’t know. I’ve sat up all night with post-rape victims, driven absurd distances to help friends move or get to airports, applied first aid when needed, flown across the country for funerals.

FORTITUDE
1. What are you most afraid of? Highway 17. No, seriously– being attacked in my car again.
2. What did you do today that was really brave? I got onto Highway 17. I wasn’t very brave today. I will be brave tomorrow.
3. Who is your favorite superhero, and why? Rogue, because she’s very cool.
4. Would you put your life in danger to rescue someone? Yes.
5. If you were to face the Wizard, would you want more courage, more brains, or more heart? I would want more brains, but I am happy with what I have.
6. Have you ever gotten stage fright? Yes– everyone gets stage fright. It’s just how you handle it that matters.
7. Do you consider yourself to be a leader or a follower? I am definitely a leader.

JUSTICE
1. Have you ever been summoned for jury duty? Only once, but I’d moved out of state.
2. If they reinstituted the draft (for both genders), would you go, or would find some way out of it? Yes. I would be a conscientious objector.
3. Do you support capital punishment (the death penalty)? No, but I wouldn’t mind killing a few people who have done me wrong, so I know the impulse that makes us want it to be the right thing to do.
4. Do you believe that Dubya is rightfully President of the USA? No.
5. What was your favorite media circus trial? No.
6. Have you ever written a letter to a politician? Yes. I was really pissed when Dubya used words from my letter out of context to support his anti-alternate-fuels energy plans.
7. Have you ever succeeded in a lawsuit or legal/political action?[I'm not sure why this one was originally missing a 7th....] Yes. I won in court last year when Hammer got an improperly-labelled ticket.

TEMPERANCE
1. What do you have the hardest time moderating yourself on? Language. I cuss a lot.
2. Do you collect anything? Yes. Shot glasses. And books. And clutter.
3. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine.
4. Have you ever put anything on layaway or used an installment plan? Yes.
5. What’s your preferred method of paying for things? Debit card linked to my monthly allowance.
6. Tell us one thing you wish you hadn’t let yourself do? Drink the bottle+ of red wine.
7. Do you feel that you obsess over things? No. I’m paranoid and obsessive about safety. It’s the only thing I’m tweaky about, though.

PRUDENCE
1. Who is the wisest person you know? My mother.
2. Have you ever participated in a vigil? No.
3. Do you take advice when it’s given? If it’s good advice.
4. What area are you wisest in? Uh…. communication problems.
5. Do you drive defensively? Most of the time.
6. Have you ever had unprotected sex outside of marriage? Well, yeah.
7. What did you learn today? That it’s very hard on the wrists to write answers to 100 “Seven Cardinal Sins/Virtues” questions.

Finally, what is your favorite cardinal virtue? Charity, followed by Justice.

Well, I love my friends. All of them. Truly and really, really and truly!

And some of my friends (or even friends-ofs or even random strangers) might need/want some paid time or other spiffy things to play with.

So, I’m holding a contest.

CONTEST GUIDELINES
Write an original poem (any form) for me. Include a one-paragraph (or more) blurb about the poetic form you used and one of the artistic risks you took in writing the poem. For example, if you misspelled a word, tell me why the misspelling is important to the poem (or correct the spelling). Post a comment here containing either a link to your journal entry with the poem, or the poem itself (if it’s 20 lines or fewer).

Poems must be original– your own work only. If you enter someone else’s work, even if you say “My aunt wrote this for you– she wants the codes!” then you won’t be entered in the contest. Your work.

One entry per person. Don’t make me get to find out if you’re circumventing this with your “other” journal account. If you want to post using a secondary account, that’s fine; just as long as you don’t also post a second poem using your primary account.

The poems I like best (and I’ll use criteria that include form, artistry, and flattery) will win. Yes, that is entirely subjective criteria. If you think poetry can be judged objectively, well, you’re just plain wrong. Sorry.

PRIZES
First Prize: For the very best entry, I will buy a 6-month Paid Membership to LiveJournal (value $15). This gets tacked onto any existing paid time you might have. Paid accounts come with a variety of neat benefits. No, you don’t get to have the paid time applied to someone else’s account– it’ll be applied to your account only. The only exception is Permanent Account holders– they can designate someone to receive their paid time prize. Update (3/22): You can, alternately, choose to have me buy you a rename token instead of 6 months of paid time.

Second Prize: For the second-best entry, I will buy a 2-month Paid Membership to LiveJournal (value $5). Same information about paid accounts.

Third Prize: I will give you ten free invitation codes to use as you wish, however you want to, for whatever you like (value: priceless). If you’re a support person, that might seem like No Big Deal, but you can run your own contest to auction them off however you like. Or throw them at or whatever you want to do with them. It’s Up To You.

CONTEST DEADLINE March 31, April 1, 2003. You have one month to complete the contest. [Note: Changed deadline because I thought it was April 1 and have been posting reminders that it’s April 1, so I’m making it April 1. Midnight, please.

ELIGIBILITY Must be a LiveJournal user in good standing (no currently-suspended accounts) to enter. Must follow all contest rules and guidelines. Void where prohibited.

Feel free to post a link to this in various relevant communities or journals, as appropriate and following the comm’s guidelines.