memes

I’ve Been Tagged Five Times For The Same Meme, But People, I’VE GOT NOTHING LEFT!

January 28, 2009 By Jenny Ryan 2 Comments

As you may have gathered from my title, I keep getting tagged for the “25 Random Things About Me” Meme that is currently making the rounds of Teh Internetz. However, given that my whole entire blog is pretty much devoted to mocking the randomness that is me, I am seriously scraping the bottom of the barrel here, trying to come up with something new to say. It is not going well (Ex. “My favorite musical interval is the 6th.”)

But, let’s see what I can do.

1. I am TOTALLY OBSESSED with the number eight.

2. No, seriously-OBSESSED.

3. My first name, (Jennifer) has eight letters in it.

4. My maiden name also has eight letters in it.

5. I was born in October, which used to be the eighth month of the calendar year.

6. But then they messed things up by sticking in July, for Julius Caesar.

7. And August, for Augustus.

8. Stupid Roman emperors.

9. And, I was born on the 8th day of the formerly eighth month.

10. I always wondered how all these personal facts came together in such a cool way for me.

11. My best guess:

12. I am possessed of wicked cool supernatural powers, which apparently manifested themselves before I even entered the womb.

13. Shut up-there are TOO magical powers!

14. Hello-didn’t you notice the title of my blog?!

15. My passionate love affair with the number eight has manifested itself in other ways.

16. More specifically, it has taken the form of a particular OCD behavior.

17. For as long as I can remember, whenever I hear people talking,

18. Or am reading words on a page,

19. My mind is constantly rearranging the words and sounds into groups of eight syllables.

20. When I shared this with my first psychiatrist, he thought that was really cool.

21. It’s actually kind of a pain.

22. I also collect 8-syllable words.

23. So far I have have…wait for it…EIGHT!

24. desafortunadamente, neoimpresionismo, neoimpresionante, totalitarianism

25. electroencephalograph, institutionalization, indefatigability, rhinotillexomania

Thursday Thirteen #20: Thirteen Funny Quotes From “Bones”

February 1, 2007 By Jenny Ryan 17 Comments

Thirteen Funny Quotes From “Bones”1. “Don’t provoke the lunatic.”
–Agent Booth

2.”Dude, what you call being a conspiracy theorist I call being well informed”
-Dr. Jack Hodgins

3.”It took me weeks to collect all those photocopies, I need you, friends don’t let friends photocopy their butts at company Christmas parties”
-Angela to Brennan

4. Brennan: (to Booth) You’re very touchy. Perhaps because of all your skulking around?
Booth: I’m discreet, okay? It’s different. A gentleman is discreet. Okay?

5. Booth: God does not make mistakes.
Angela: I don’t know – putting testicles on the outside doesn’t seem like such a good idea.

6. looking at the reconstruction on the computer)
Angela: How could anybody do this to themselves?
Hodgins: You know, 900 B.C., the Greek ruler Theseus had two men sit in chairs and beat each other to death for entertainment.
(Cam and Angela just stare at Hodgins)
Hodgins: Just saying, it’s nothing new.

7. Brennan: You know, we all have aspects of ourselves we might wish were different.
Zack: Yes, I wanted larger biceps before I became comfortable with my mental acuity.

8. (Hodgins and Angela talking about swings)
Hodgins: I miss that feeling.
Angela: Yeah, me too.
Brennan: I miss organic chemistry class.. those were good times..
Zack: I miss my first microscope
Booth: Yeah and I miss normal people!

9.Brennan: Debris embedded in the remains suggests an explosion.
Booth: So does that giant hole in the wall.

10. Brennan: You said you’ve dealt with manipulative men before.
Angela: Sweetie, this is a psycho killer… Not some loser who wants you to co-sign a loan for his jet-ski.

11. Booth: …the last time Bones saw Epps, it got violent.
Saroyan: You’ll be there to protect her.
Booth: She’s not the one who needs protecting. Bones broke his wrist.
Bones: He touched me with his creepy serial killer hands.
Saroyan: Better not take Dr. Brennan.

12. Booth: (on the phone) Monkeys are Daddy’s favorite! They’re just like people!
Brennan: (interrupting) Actually, three million base pairs of the genome differ in protein encoding and other functional areas.
Booth: What?
Brennan: The differences between chimps and humans.
Booth: I’m talking to a four year old, Bones.

13. Brennan: Committing yourself to one person isn’t in the interest of the species. I mean, you have multiple partners.
Angela: Don’t say it like that – I date.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Blog Fodder #6

January 8, 2007 By Jenny Ryan 8 Comments

What is your most memorable meal? Why?

My most memorable meal was one that I did not actually attend in person. But I still ended up with a great story.

Back in November of 1996, five months after my husband and I got married, our families decided to have Thanksgiving together honor our new union. At the last minute the two of us ended up not being able to go because I got sick. But our families had dinner together anyway.

Included in the invitation was my husband’s eighty-something-year-old grandmother, who when greeting my twenty-year-old brother (whom she had only seen once before, at our wedding, decked out in full wedding regalia) said, “Well hello there. I didn’t recognize you with all your clothes on!”

Happy New Year-I’m It Again!

December 31, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 5 Comments

Possibly taking pity on me after my last post where I described my inability to deal well with boredom, Mary (Mert) from Almost Somewhat Positive tagged me to do this meme called, “5 Things You May Not Know About Me”. I’m not sure if my online ramblings have left many (any) things about me unknown, but we’ll see what we can come up with here.

1. I can trace my family line back to four people on the Mayflower; 2 people on my paternal grandfather’s side, and 2 people on my paternal grandmother’s side.

2. My choir director at Wake Forest University was Dr. Brian Gorelick, who besides being a fabulously talented choir director is also the brother of Kenny G. My sophomore year in college we did this mega production of “Carmina Burana” which Kenny G flew out to attend, and he sat in the seat directly in front of my brother in the audience.

3. I CANNOT STAND any fabric that has any kind of a nap-velvet, silk, suede, corduroy, velor you name it. Having to touch it literally makes my spine ache, it is just that repulsive to me.

4. I went to my senior prom in 1990 with the man to whom I am now married. (And yes, I DID know I wanted to marry him back then-I know a good thing when I see it! And no, I did NOT mention that little fact to him-I’m not stupid! :P)

5. I absolutely refuse to read or watch any stories about animals. I just cannot handle animal stories-they make me come completely unglued. So I’m probably the only person in America who’s never seen “The Lion King”. And I’m OK with that.

Thursday Thirteen #18: 2006 In Review

December 28, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 31 Comments

2006 In Review

January1. The War Of The Rodents Begins

“You know how sometimes in life you start out with these great plans, and then unexpected things happen and you find yourself in a place that you never could’ve imagined? Well, that is happening to me now. But not in a misty, nostalgic, “oh, look at the funny twists of fate” kind of way. It’s more of an, “I wonder how I could erase certain parts of my memory without causing myself actual brain damage” kind of way.Because, through no fault of my own, and totally against my will, I am becoming…an Expert In Rats. Believe me-I have fought this tooth and nail (no pun intended). But these people keep on foisting off all of this unwanted knowledge on me, and unfortunately it’s the kind of knowledge that really sticks with you.”

2. The Name Of My Blog Is Born

“So last weekend my husband and I were at dinner with 3 other couples, and during the course of the conversation the woman next to me informed me that I was going to, and I quote, “H-E-double hockey sticks.” Oh, and not only was I going, but so was my husband. Oh, and not only was he going too, but the fact that he was going was also my fault.

Of course I couldn’t think of any snappy comebacks in the moment, but here are some responses I’ve come up with since then.

-“What?!”

-“Ah, yes, my powers are growing. I must be sure to use them only for good, and never for evil.”

February

3. We Begin The Process Of Divorcing Our Bank

“I decided that I was tired of paying the old bank every month just for the privilege of keeping my money there. So I found a new bank that doesn’t do that, which is very nice. Unfortunately, the new bank is located directly across the street from the old bank, a place I’ve frequented for the last 6 1/2 years, where, in the immortal words of Cheers, “everybody knows my name.”

So instead of being able to drift quietly away into my new banking relationship, letting my old bank have the time and space it needs to mourn the end of our association, I am forced to flaunt my new financial partnership in full view of the bank with whom I’ve just broken up.”

4. I Publicly Embrace My Fear Of Talking On The Phone

“I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there just are not words to describe just how much I love my BlackBerry.

But anyway, the point of all of this is that now I can stay in constant communication with all the people I like without actually having to speak with them on the phone. Because, and this has been a deep, dark secret of mine for a LONG time, I am a “phonophobiac”. Yes, that’s right. I am afraid of calling people on the phone.”

March

5. We Join Forces With The Gamers

“Recently my husband has been excited to find some new friends with which he can play video games. While I am an excellent wife and companion in many ways, I do not share his enjoyment of gaming. So it has been good for him to connect with others who do.

Last weekend one of The Gamers arrived at our house and announced: “I just went to Blockbuster and found The Best Game Ever! You’re a samurai, and you wake up one day, and all of your body parts have been stolen. You have to go out and fight the bad guys who took them so you can like, get your arms back and stuff!”

May

6. We Attempt To Keep Tender, Growing Things Alive

“Up until a few years ago I used to go around bragging all the time about how I had a “black thumb”. Unfortunately it was true that I was spectacularly unsuccessful in keeping alive plants, flowers, and a beta fish. But I never realized just how weird it was that basically I was saying, “You know, I just want to tell you how excited I am about this special talent of mine where I am really good at killing living things.”

Looking back now I really don’t know how my husband and I ever had enough confidence in our abilities to take in and nurture living creatures other than ourselves, given the fact that every time he goes out of town on a trip he has to sit me down, look me in the eye, and remind me to continue eating while he is gone. Or the fact that once my husband was in serious stomach pain for like 5 days, and it wasn’t until the day when he could no longer stand up straight and was walking around the house bent over at a 90 degree angle and I could actually physically overpower him and force him into the car that he went to the doctor to get treated.”

June

7. My Blog Turns 1-Yay!

“Unfortunately I was a little too miserable to notice before, what with the sinus pain and pressure, and the White Hot Nail Of Agony piercing my eardrum, and The Doctor Who Did Not Believe Me, but last Monday, June 12th, was the one year birthday of my blog!”

8. My Brother Gets Married

“So after sleeping for 16 hours, and then laying on the couch for the rest of the day after I got up and staring at the ceiling, I think I have finally recovered from the wedding. I know that as Americans we like to think we are on the leading edge of everything. But speaking as someone whose brother just married into a Polish family, when it comes to wedding receptions, we Americans have NOTHING on the rest of the world!

That was absolutely The Most Fun I have ever had at a wedding reception, and I only wish I had known just how much physical endurance it was going to require of me, so that I could have been preparing for it with a very strict training regimen over the past year.”

August

9. My Podcasts Are Born

“And lo, the heavens did open, and the angels did descend and pour forth their heavenly songs, because today, I created a Podcast. ALL. BY. MY. SELF!

To give you some idea of the magnitude of this achievement, just imagine if a rock, which moments before had been totally inert, suddenly came to life and began to expound on the principles of Quantum Physics in four languages simultaneously. That’s a pretty good metaphor for what happened here today.”

September

10. I Embrace My Inner Grammar Snob

“Apparently my powers have some limits. Because today, I broke my website. And you know what did me in? Pride.

And if there is anything that I am prideful over, it is the correct use of grammar and my own personal correct-grammar-using-abilities. In other words, I am a Grammar Snob.”

October

11. I Discover That Yup, I Was Right. I Really Don’t Like Coffee

“Back when I was in high school peer pressure was easy to spot, and there were always very clear-cut reasons available to me for saying “No”. Smoking? Um, no thanks, on account of all the cancer and all the death. Drinking? Hm, think I’ll pass as I have no desire for my parents to kill me for engaging in such behavior. Sex? I couldn’t stand anyone else’s children; I certainly didn’t want any of my own.

But by the time I finally finished school, got married, and entered my thirties, I began to relax. Surely, I thought, the time of being scorned for being “different” had passed.

Oh silly, naive woman.”

12. The Bank Divorce Continues

“Tomorrow we are going to break up with our bank. And I can’t wait!

Earlier this year I wrote about how I moved some of our accounts over to a new financial institution. Because, as I said, “I decided that I was tired of paying the old bank every month just for the privilege of keeping my money there.” More and more our monthly statements were starting to look like this:

Monthly Service Fees:

Driving past our building on the way to the grocery store: $3.00

Breathing air: $5.00″

December

13. My Secret Identity As A Witch Is Discovered

“My husband and just went to the grocery store to buy some dessert. As we were standing in the ice cream aisle, perusing all the choices, we heard the high-pitched sound of a little boy talking to his dad. Neither one of us really paid any attention to it, until we noticed that it wasn’t stopping. So we both looked up at the exact same moment, just in time to hear him yell, “The witch, daddy, the witch!” over and over again. And he was pointing? Directly at me.”

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday Thirteen #17: Thirteen Funny Christmas Cartoons

December 21, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 17 Comments

Thirteen Funny Christmas Cartoons1. 2.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Bonus:

14.

15.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

(leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!)

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Blog Fodder #4

December 18, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 11 Comments

What is the best practical joke you have ever participated in, or one that was done on you?

A couple of weekends ago my husband and I went out for Chinese with a friend of ours. I was off in my own little world (as I frequently am), and eventually I started singing along with the Christmas muzak that was playing in the background.

“Uh, what are you doing, Jenny?” my husband asked me.

“I’m singing along with the Christmas music.”

“What music?”

“You know, the music.” I sang a few additional bars to demonstrate.

“I don’t hear anything.”

This was alarming for a number of reasons. First of all, I wasn’t just hearing a faint tune in my head. I was hearing completely-scored, full-orchestral arrangements. So if I was having delusions or hallucinations, they were pretty far advanced. Second, much of the music I was hearing prominently featured the pan flute, and I was very concerned that my hallucinations chose to express themselves through such an odd instrument.

I tried everything to get them to hear the music. I sang louder. I switched seats with them. I had them stand in different spots in the restaurant. Nothing.

Now I was really freaked out because, as inventive as I am, I could not come up with an explanation for this. Fortunately my husband noticed that I was fast becoming A Woman On The Edge, and before I could announce that I was leaving the restaurant and immediately checking myself into some kind of treatment facility, he let me know that they were just messing with me.

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I’m It

December 17, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 7 Comments

Sparky, of “Philly Transplant”, just tagged me for the following meme:

The Rules:

Each player of this game starts with the “6 weird things about you”. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says “you are tagged” in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

I didn’t know how I could possibly pick out just six of my, um, “eccentricities”, so I decided to ask my husband what he would choose. So here is his list, about me.

“Well, you need to start with your toes,” was his first thought. Oh sure, Mr. “I-Have-Beautifully-Formed-Arches-And-Perfectly-Sculpted-Long-Elegant-Toes”, point out my completely flat feet with toes that curl under why don’t you. It’s not like my self-esteem has taken a big hit with that whole witch thing or anything. [Read more…] about I’m It

Friday’s Feast #122

December 15, 2006 By Jenny Ryan 18 Comments

Appetizer: What was your very first job with a paycheck?

The summer after my first year in college I was so proud of myself, because I’d finally found myself my first job. Being only eighteen years old at the time, I didn’t think it was at all suspicious that the job involved meeting at some central location and being picked up en masse in some unknown van to then be taken to some secondary location.

Fortunately my mom, in her infinite wisdom, recognized that this might not be the best thing for me to do (I believe the words “White Slave Trade” might have come up in our discussion), and she enlisted the help of my dad who then found me a much better job working in the marketing department of a local museum.

Soup: Did you ever lose something really important to you?

If we’re talking about material objects here, then I would have to say no. This would be due to the fact that I’m kind of obsessive about my stuff, and if it’s not right here in front of me in my line of sight at all times, I tend to freak out.

This can be kind of a problem when it comes to things with the ability to move from one place to the other on their own, like our three cats.

Salad: What is the best Christmas present you ever received?

Anything I’ve ever received from my husband. He is superb, not only at picking out fantastic gifts, but also at presenting them in very cool ways.

Our parents used to live across the street from each other (which is how we met), and back when we were in college and my Christmas gift involved his re-sizing rings for me, he hid my rings and created a treasure hunt with clues that spanned both sides of the street.

Another year, after we were married, he bought me the entire 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary. Because what is a better gift for an OCD word-nerd than something that contains every single word in the English language known to man up until that time?

Main Course: Tell about a favorite “hang out” place for you and your friends when you were in high school.

My friend Liz’s house. Her parents always liked having us over, and at exam times she, I, and our friend, Julie, would camp out for days in her rec room, which her parents then aptly referred to as, “The Cave”.

Dessert: Name something that always brings a smile to your face.

Me! And my goofy-ass way of looking at the world.

Dine For Yourself