Lianhua.nu

Life, the universe and everything?

Why, 42, of course.

In my previous entry, I asked my beloved readers to ask me questions about anything, anything at all, for me to answer in an effort to break out of my writer’s block.

And of course, there were some lovely questions posed. I’m excited to answer them! So… let’s get started, shall we?

Erica was apparently in a very curious mood; she asked me a bunch of different questions!
First, she asked, “What food would you be happy to never eat again?”
And the answer is pickles (as in pickled cucumbers). I hate pickles – pretty much any kind, bread & butter, dill, whatever. I don’t even know the different types of pickles, I hate them so much. Ick. Blech. Yuck.

Next, she asks, “What does your bedroom look like?”
For this one, I got out my trusty camera and took some photos. Click on any of these little thumbnails to see a bigger version (some even have notes!):

She also wanted to know “What is in your purse?”
And I took another photo (again, click to see larger and lots of notes!):

And finally, “Do you have any guilty pleasure bands or TV shows?”
I don’t really have a lot of guilty pleasure music, but I do find myself listening to a bit of Outkast… specifically “Roses,” “The Way You Move” and “Hey Ya!” Aren’t those everyone’s guilty pleasures, though? I dare you to just try to listen to those songs and not dance your ass off.
As far as TV, there are a few more that I’m not exactly proud to admit I love. Wife Swap, Supernanny, 16 and Pregnant, Maury, Bridezillas… Oh, and Derek and I got totally hooked on Momma’s Boys back when it was on. Omfg, that show was so dramatastic. I loved it.

Then Sarah from OSN came along and wanted to know how I got into my current lifestyle. “What’s attracted you to your current lifestyle? When with your ex you seemed more… stifled? Now you seem more free, live more of a natural and organic life, etc.”
Well, she kind of hit it right on the nose with the mention of my ex. I’m not saying he was abusive or oppressive or anything, but I did find myself stifling some of my wants and needs a bit and sacrificing them for his. It’s not something I’m proud of myself for doing, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened. I’d been in a pattern where all I wanted to do was please whoever showed any interest in me, because for so long I didn’t really feel attractive or deserving, and wanted to obsessively hold on to whatever I could get. So somehow I convinced myself that meant giving up what was important to me for what was important to the other person.
I don’t really regret much of my life, but if I were to think of anything as regretful, I think my behavior and choices during that time period comes pretty close.

When I started my life with Derek, though, things changed quite a bit. I’m able to do a lot of things that I wanted to do but never did for fear of rocking the boat too much. Thanks to him being there for me and being supportive of me, as well as some much-needed therapy, I’m starting to gain a lot more confidence. This is a good thing.

Honestly, it also helps that Derek and I just see eye-to-eye on more issues, like money issues, eating organic/all-natural, health care, etc. We just have more compatible viewpoints and lifestyles. This is a very good thing.

Caity wrote: “I know you love your job, but if you had to switch professions suddenly, what other interesting careers might you pursue?”
If I could, I would open a tea store/tea house. Tea is one of my huge passions, and I love sharing it with people – I would love to have a place where people could come, hang out, try some amazing tea and relax. I’d also love to be able to travel to lots of other places to source the teas themselves – whether it’s just over to New Jersey to meet up with the people at Adagio or across the world to see tea harvested in a tea field in India. And of course, I’d try to rope in Derek as well – something tells me he wouldn’t fight it too much. ;)

Another Sarah, this one of sarahchristine.org, decided she would go against the grain and ask questions on Facebook. :P

QUESTION: Why are your titties so kicking rad?
I could say something about genetics or something, but the truth is my genetics decided that my kicking rad titties would be perfect… except for their size. Good things come in small packages? Uh, sure. Anyway, they were kicking rad, but not very noticeable. Luckily, though, Victoria’s Secret loves me, and made their Pink push-up bras just for me. Together, the push-upness and the kicking radness combine to make epic cleavage. Nature + nurture, bb.

QUESTION: Why is the sky blue?
Rayleigh scattering.

QUESTION: What is the average speed velocity of a swallow?
Laden or unladen? European or African? Foraging or traveling? :P

QUESTION: The best and worst movies you’ve ever seen?
Let’s narrow this down to the last year or two… I’ve seen a lot of movies. Best: Synecdoche, NY; 500 Days of Summer; Away We Go; Happy-Go-Lucky; Ponyo; Slumdog Millionaire. Worst/Most Overrated: Dark Knight; Funny People…

QUESTION: The best and worst books you’ve ever read.
Bah, another hard one… I know it’s a cop out, but let’s just leave it at this: I hate anything by James Joyce and the Great Gatsby. I love memoirs, some especially good ones have been Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres, Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I also loved Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. And I think Eat, Pray, Love is completely overrated and that the author is a self-absorbed twat. :D

Questions? Anyone? Bueller?

I have a few blog entries that I’ve been working on, off and on, for the past few days, but I’m working with a bout of writer’s block. It’s a pain in the ass, to be quite honest. I have these great ideas but I just can’t get into writing right now!

So that’s why I’m going to call on you, my dear readers, and anyone else you want to send my way. Help me break through my writer’s block!

How can you help?

Well, that’s pretty easy, actually. You see, it’s a time-honored, ancient blogging tactic that tons of people have used throughout the centuries to break the block: Ask me some questions! I’ll happily answer them in a big, pretty blog post and link back to your blog when I do (yay free traffic!). Invite your friends, too! I don’t mind answering questions from perfect strangers! :)

I can’t really think of anything that’s off-limits in the realm of my answers, either, except maybe things that violate my privacy to an extent that I might be harmed (e.g. “what’s your address?” “can i have your credit card number?” etc). So, a little common sense is in order, but, other than that, pretty much anything goes.

So, ask away! :)

House Rules

So one of my guilty little pleasures when it comes to TV is Wife Swap. Honestly, most of the reason I get sucked into it is because of all the drama when the families’ ideas colldie, but lately I’ve also found that it makes me reflect a little on my life and household as well.

Granted, Derek and I don’t have kids, so the way we raise or treat our children is yet to be determined (although we’ve talked about some general ideas – cosleeping, baby wearing/transport, breastfeeding, how to handle Santa Claus, etc.), but we do have some general household tenets that could cause some problems for an outsider, should one ever come in…

No High Fructose Corn Syrup. I don’t allow it in my apartment. The only exception is maybe a 20oz of coke that we’ll buy for a friend or family member or someone when they come to visit. But that’s few and far between. We do have soda, but it’s always cane sugar soda (we love Virgil’s).

The Trifecta of Food: Organic, All-Natural, Local. All of the food we buy falls into one, two or all of these categories, with priority in that order. For example, if we go to Whole Foods and see apples, we’re most likely to choose the organic ones that were grown in California. If we see crackers, we’ll choose the organic ones or, if none are available, the all-natural ones. Most of the time, that means big name brands are out of the question. A lot of times this means we pay a bit of a premium for our food, but it’s something that’s very important to us.

Shared Chores. Derek and I don’t really divvy up the chores or anything; we don’t have set roles for either of us. We both do laundry, we both do dishes, we both clean. As far as scheduling it, we don’t even really have a schedule for it… When we see something needs attention, we take care of it. The only exceptions are that we fold our own clothes and he irons (because very few of my things need to be ironed).

Low Impact Living. We try very hard to have very little impact on the environment, even when we’re buying things like toiletries. Our paper towels and toilet paper are recycled. I ride a bike, walk or take a bus to work. TMI warning — I even use a reusable, silicone menstrual cup rather than pads or tampons. (Do you think, if I put that as one of my important rules, that the wife I’d swap with would have to do it? That would be kind of funny…)

Would any of these rules be hard for you to abide by? What kind of rules does your household have that might be hard for others to live with?