Meme - Getting to Know You

2009 Edition of getting to know your Friends

Vivienne has tagged me. I hope you all play along as well.

Copy and paste the questions below into a new post and tag anyone you want and also link me so I can read what you wrote! :)

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1. What time did you get up this morning?
6-ish. I never know for sure. I usually come to in the shower at some point.

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Neither but if I had to choose I guess diamonds. They look more interesting. Pearls look like something only old ladies wear.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Drive-in cinema: The Watchmen Sit-down theater....I think Bolt?

5. What do you usually have for breakfast
Bagle with cream cheese. Sometimes a Toaster Strudel or a cinnamon twist. Occasionally cereal or fruit. There is no usual I guess.

6. What is your middle name?
I prefer not to disclose this information.

7. What food do you dislike?
Anything fancy that you can't figure out. If you don't know what kind of animal or plant it came from, I would stay away from it. Or if it is an animal you can keep as a pet...I would also stay away from it.

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
What the hell is a CD? Is it those archaic and delicate plastic coasters people burn MP3's to? If so, I haven't purchased one in almost a decade. Any one of the albums in my Amazon Suggested Music box in the sidebar.

9. What kind of car do you drive?
A hybrid.

10. Favorite sandwich?
Usually basic. Meat, lettuce and a little American cheese and tomato. None of that vinegar crap that makes it smell like feet. I also like the meatball subs from Subway.

11. What characteristic do you despise?
My nervousness. Is loudness a characteristic. When someone is louder than they need to be, rambunctious or cocky, I secretly picture them dead. Partly why I don't watch sports.

12. Favorite item of clothing?
My boxers.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
I would stay in the U.S. People hate American Citizens right now. I can't say I blame them but I would hate to be used as an example let alone put my family at risk for retribution. I would like some day to see New York. That or a creepy tour of Salem Massachusetts.

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Oddly enough I DO have a favorite brand. Anchor Blue. They have soft shirts and good jeans. They fit loose enough to be comfortable and their materials don't make me all antsy like other brands do.

15. Where would you retire to?
Somewhere far away from traffic, most humans and smog. As long as there is a Best Buy nearby and internet access I'm good.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
See answer 11.

18. Furthest place you are sending this?
This doesn't make any sense. I the furthest place I am sending it is probably Google HQ. Everyone else comes to get it from there.

19. Person you expect to send it back first?
My wife might play along but that's about it. Vivienne would have but she got to it first.

20. When is your birthday?
I also refuse to disclose this information.

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night person all the way. I'm like a Vampire in the morning.

22. What is your shoe size?
Depends on the shoe. Usually 9.5 or 10 US. (That's what she said.)

23. Pets?
My wife and I have the worlds greatest dog.

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
Not publicly but my life has been full of surprises lately. Mostly good some really bad.

25. What did you want to be when you were little?
At first an astronaut. Then I experienced an unpleasant event that created the claustrophobic individual I am today. I saw their Space Shuttle sleeping quarters and I lost all interest. Then I wanted to be an Archaeologist but the light OCD kept me from keeping my hands dirty for longer than 2 minutes. I aimed a lot lower and decided I may have fun working as a writer but those dreams were shattered by reality. My stories were terrible. I just gave up and here we are.

26. How are you today?
Anxious to get home. I hate being away from there right now knowing that my family is waiting for me.

27. What is your favorite candy
Right now it is Sour Gummy Savers!

28. What is your favorite flower?
The Iris. :)

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are so many of them EVERY YEAR!

30. What is your full name?
None of my names really describe me.

31. What are you listening to right now?
The air conditioning and my typing.

32. What was the last thing you ate?
51 oz. of water.

33. Do you wish on stars?
I wish to have their mysteries discovered in my lifetime. Does that count?

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Probably some shade of dark blue.

35. How is the weather right now?
No idea, I will probably find out during lunch...oh wait!

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
My wife of course!

37. Favorite soft drink?
I like to mix Sprite and Hawaiian Punch. But I really like Sour Apple Jones.

38. Favorite restaurant?
In-N-Out Burger is great but that's not really a "restaurant" per se. I guess Denny's. Its ghetto but they have everything.

39. Real hair color?
I don't know. I have dark brown with some red hairs in there. Like RED red. :?

40. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Probably my Transformers but I really liked my Hot Wheels. I still have them all.

41. Summer or winter?
Summer because of the lack of traffic during the commute but Winter for the weather and the fireplace-blanket-movie night-snuggling. (Haa Vivienne we finally disagree on something!)

42. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs. So much can be said with a hug.

43. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla (Make that 2 V.) I have yet to find a bad variation of Vanilla yet I have had some terrible, terrible chocolate. Dark chocolate......*tweak.

44. Coffee or tea?
Neither. I don't drink caffeine and tea has more than soda BUT if I were to drink one, it would be tea. When I get really sick I have recently started drinking tea though the resulting caffeine migraines don't seem worth it.

45. Do you want your followers to reply?
It would be cool.

47. What is under your bed?
Drawers with seasonal clothes and power cables that connect all our recharging docks on the headboard.

48. What did you do last night?
A lot. Wrote a blog (somewhere else) and attached a short video to it. Paid some bills, canceled four magazine subscriptions, cleaned the entertainment room somewhat, burned...something, scanned a computer for virus and malware apps, updated my iPhone, killed some fools in the iMafia game on the iPhone, picked up some Ceviche from a local Mariscos place that I hope to never need to enter again and a lot of other miscellaneous things.

49. What are you afraid of?
Painful death. The death of others.

50. Salty or sweet?
Salty usually but I also like sweet. I don't have a preference really as long as they aren't together.

51. How many keys on your key ring?
Around 10.

52. How many years at your current job?
I'm going on 3 I think.

53. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday. Wake up late stay up late.

54. How many towns have you lived in?
4 starting with Hollywood.

55. Do you make friends easily?
Not at all. Many people find the first impression I make a bit standoffish.

56. How many people do you think will read this?
Maybe 2.

57. How many will respond?
Maybe 1.

Wow that was long.

Random@Random - Undies

Underwear is so important.

If you are wearing a bad set of boxers it can really ruin your day.

If they are too small...ugh. You might as well be wearing heals all day because you will be walking like you are.

If they are too big they slip down even with your pants still on and you have to do this wiggle dance to get them out of where they shouldn't be.

Worse yet, if you get dressed in the dark and put them on backwards...you won't be the same for the next few days after walking around all day with that opening in the back.

K Bye!

Random@Random - Brown

Why when you mash up a variety of living material does it always have to turn brown?

What is it with brown? Does the color brown define us as earthlings both plant and animal alike? Even if you blend into the mix bright flowers of many different colors, ultimately you get some nasty variety of ugly brown.

Why not black?

Black isn't nearly as disgusting. Take your dog for a walk. If you step in a pile of do, I bet you won't be nearly as disgusted by some black poop than the creamy brown variety.

Burnt steak is better than freezer burn brown.

A dirty apple isn't nearly as disgusting as a browning one.

A brown ninja doesn't look nearly as cool as a black one.

Chocolate labs aren't as cool as black or even yellow labs. (And I don't like yellow.)

I had a few seconds of relaxing time so I thought I would waste it on a useless train of thought. Mission accomplished.

I don't like brown.

NON MAXIMUS NOMEN

Title Art to Come Later <--Must get home to the wife! :)

What's in a name? What is the significance of them these days? It is rare that I find a person who's name I think really FITS with who they are and what they look like.

So often I think of those names that carry so much baggage with them. Names like Bertha. When I think of Bertha I have a pretty clear picture of what kind of person to expect. If I meet them and they don't fit that classification it is odd and I am thrown off. I can't help but think of my imaginary Bertha and say the name in a deep voice. No disrespect intended to the great person that may have been given that name.

This got me thinking. Back in the day, when our ancestors first began using names to differentiate amongst themselves, names had meaning. They identified us as individuals. Now, you are looked down upon if you don't use a name that millions of other people use.

"You mean you're not going with John or William or Cindy?"

You could go a little celebrity crazy and use a verb or an inanimate object as a name.

"I would like to introduce my newborn daughter, Jump."

TANGENT: Anyone else noticed that taggers and celebrities have a lot in common? I may jot down a short blurb/blog someday about this if anyone is interested.

The way names used to be created in the old civilizations had something to it that I respect and feel like I miss a little.

"Son of Riley...Of Riley...O'Riley..."

Even the native Americans with their observations of the world at the time when the child is born. Though Prancing Mare would never hear the end of it from his buddies, the name held meaning.

These days we have so many different titles.

Our names. Sometimes we have 3 or 4 of them. Not including variations on pronunciation and spelling. Even still it isn't odd for us to find someone with exactly the same name, even if we have a really, "weird" one.

Our #'s. These numbers can and are used to identify is. Phone numbers, security numbers, addresses ID numbers. You name it, some company somewhere has a number for you.

Our job titles. A verbal representation of what we are responsible for. Though I'm sure many of you know that RARELY ever encompasses EVERYTHING you do. The way I see it, you usually do what your bosses title says he does but you get paid the equivalent of what your subordinate should be earning.

None of these identification tags though even combined can really define what you've accomplished and let alone who you are as a person to distinguish you from the billions of other people on this planet.

So what do I propose? A little of it all.

We use different names and languages combined to summarize what and who we are. Take a little of the old and mix it with the new.

Reinvent the middle name.

Say you have a man named Richard Ramirez who fathers a son named Daniel Marx Ramirez. Marx serves no purpose so it would be eradicated. The first and last would have to be left alone for a while. At least through a few transitional generations.

Daniel Ramirez becomes a father. The prefix "Pa" (as in pater) is added to his name. Let us assume he is married before having a child so he already has "Ma" (from maritus) in his name. College graduate? "Co" (as in colligo) is added.

Any major accomplishments the individual or his/her immediate family deems worthy of noting would be added or compressed into the middle designation. Whether it be educational or religious in nature. Perhaps even financial?

You want variety and individuality? This will give it to you. Latin is not the default tag. Any family group or culture would choose their heritages native language of origin to create and/or combine their family names.

"Son of" could also be applied using the direct first names or titles of the parents. This new naming convention would be so malleable it would define the title of convention. Sure it would make paperwork a nightmare for the first few decades but it would also make identity theft a tiny bit more difficult to maintain for a long period.

Most identity theft situations are discovered years of not decades later. Within that amount of time you would have probably already changed your title. By then, any sort of credit check requests would be flagged because someone would be trying to access or request it with an outdated name.

Not an ideal solution for that problem I know but I didn't intend it to be as such. That was just a fortunate, if temporary, side effect.

A name like Daniel Pamaco-Ri Ramirez (or Pahuma-Ri Father-Husband-Masters of Richard) might become common. Some may sound stupid like that example but others may sound nice. A mother and wife would have a prefix of Mowi which sounds very nice and motherly like Maui. :)

What would your name be?

Where No Bat Has Gone Before...

I had a few minutes of spare time today so I read some internet news. I have to differentiate between the regular news and internet news for obvious reasons if you have spent any respectable amount of time online over the past few years.

Last Sunday, NASA detected a small bat clinging to the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle discovery. A local wildlife expert supposed that the bats wing was damaged and it couldn't let go and fly away.

The poor little bat actually stayed on board for liftoff.

They were monitoring the bat throughout the entire countdown and noticed it would still move from time to time. With all their equipment they were even able to tell its temperature during launch.

NASA coldly summarizes this entire situation with one sentence, "The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery’s climb into orbit."

I for one tend to agree more with Gizmodo in that this bat deserves a more respectful send off. I quote them below with some slight, sensational additions. ;)

"Bereft of his ability to fly and with nowhere to go, a courageous bat climbed aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery with stars in his weak little eyes. For generations, batkind has dreamt (during the day of course) of a future where the eternal goal of becoming one with the night sky would come to fruition. The launch of the Twolegged Hairless Landwalkers Volcanobeast commenced, and Spacebat trembled as his frail mammalian body was gently pushed skyward. For the last time, he felt the primal joy of flight; for the first, the indescribable feeling of ascension into the ethereal, fathomless blackness.

Whether he was consumed in the exhaust flames or frozen solid in the stratosphere is of no concern. We know that Spacebat died, but his dream will live on in all of us."

A moment of silence for our adventurous mammalian brethren.

Buy American

Not really known for my National Pride, I know when certain things must be done.

Right now the entire world is suffering financially. I reside in one of the richest countries in the world and one could argue that the fate of the financial stability of the entire world rests on the future of this country I live in.

For that reason alone I have tried my best to make little choices that I think may benefit the country in the long run.



Whenever I can, I try to buy products from companies that employ humans that live here. I live in a nation of consumers and have found out that it is near impossible to buy exclusively American made products.

Keep your 40 cent discount Wal-Mart! I would be willing to pay a dollar more for my products if I knew it stayed within our borders. Sure a dollar won't go far but if it is done en-mass it damn well will. The greedy corporations though don't even give us that option.

I've searched a little for websites that may help me find stores that support U.S. made products and have only come across crap like this. Is this all that is left? Are homegrown products doomed to live a life of obscurity in an apparently 3rd world developed website?

We're in serious trouble if we don't change the way we think right away. We can't just wait around for whoever is in office to save us. They don't have that much power to begin with.

Don't just go out and buy to jump start the economy. Go out and buy smart.

You Volume 2: Vivienne

I had an idea.

I want to do a series of blogs where I interview you.

My intention is to get my followers to know each other a little better and perhaps help you all get acquainted. Sound like fun? Volunteer and I will send you the questions.

I will do one at a time periodically. I will select one reader from the ones that volunteer, (I want to make sure they are willing to participate before I send out a query and wait impotently for a response.)

This first one will be to Vivienne. I asked her the following questions...



Hello Vivienne,

Lets start with your name shall we? Is there a story behind it? Like, were you named after anyone?

- Well my whole name is actually Vivienne Anaid Patricia. My dad wanted to call me Amparo...I'm glad he didn't! My mum wanted to give me a different name, unique, with different spelling so she picked Vivienne. In Spain you get at least one middle name and since my dad didn't get his way with Amparo they settled on Patricia.
Anaid is apparently one of my mum's favourite actresses and the Armenian goddess of fertility!

What do you think of the name? Does it represent you well?

I used to hate it but it's kinda grown on me over the past 27 years!
I hated that people always got it wrong - now they do it with my surname. I do think it represents me well, it's different, unique and nice - like me. :)

What part of the world are you from? Are you happy there or do you wish you were somewhere else? If so, where and why?

I am from all over the place. I was born in Hamburg, Germany and when I turned 3 my parents decided to move to Tenerife which is where I grew up. I don't have many links to Germany, my best friend lives there so I go visit her now and again but I feel more Spanish than German.
I am currently in London. When I turned 19 I thought I'd come to London for a year - now seven years later I'm still here! It's obviously grown on me now but I don't see myself here forever. I'd like to go back to a Spanish speaking country someday. Also I'd love to work in America for a year or two but I hear you guys only get 10 days holiday a year (I am on 28 at the moment) so I think I have to think that one through!

What brought you here to the Silent Podium?

Your wife. I like watching her YouTube videos and on her personal info she writes that her husband writes controversial blogs so to have a look with an open mind. I read "controversial" and thought - must have a look at that!

What do you consider some of your more eccentric interests or hobbies that you like to do when you're not blogging or on the internet?
Eccentric hmmmm.

I used to go to pole dancing classes and quite enjoyed that. Now before you think that's my weekend job hear me out. I read in the paper that there was a big boom about it so I decided to try it. And can I just say it's pretty much like doing yoga, well no actually it isn't like doing yoga but it has the same effects. I felt really relaxed after lessons and my posture improved a lot, it made me walk more straight AND gave me muscle tone. And it's fun. Am thinking of putting a pole in my living room but I'm afraid people are going to think I'm weird!

What other recreational activities do you like to participate in?

I like art so I often go to exhibitions and art galleries.
Love going to the cinema as well but never make time for it for some reason.
I love cooking and trying out new recipes!

Is there anything you wished more people would know about you but are afraid they will never find out on their own?

Hmm that's a difficult one! I don't think so, I think I'm pretty much what you see is what you get....

What do you think most people get wrong about you after a first impression?

That I am a confident person. I smile a lot because and I talk a lot and fast when I'm nervous, people mistake that for confidence I think.

If you don't mind sharing, what do you do for a living? Do you wish you did something else and if so, what?

Absolutely don't mind! :)
I work in TV. I am a Production Coordinator for a small production company called Red Earth Studio. I basically organize shoots, camera kit, etc. all the logistics and budgeting that go with filming something - that's me.
I love my job, I love organizing and I think I'm pretty good at it as well. I like that it's easy going, I can wear jeans to work and people are all very laid back in TV. (Well the ones behind the scenes anyway.)
I do sometimes wonder/think that I'd quite like to try doing a physical job like being a chef or something but I think I wouldn't last too long! I quite like sitting down.

What brought you here to Blogger?

Your blog! :)
I saw what you wrote and though - hm I could do one of those. It's like keeping an online diary. So I did, tried it out and still here I am, first thing I check in the mornings when turning on the Mac!

What is your blog site address and what do you blog about there mostly?

It's http://viviennes-blog.blogspot.com/ and I pretty much post about anything and everything that pops into my mind. I do sometimes re-think about what I'm going to post though in case people might think I'm weird. Which I am but I always worry I'm going to come across as one of those creepy internet people that you read about in papers!

What are you favorite movie and music genres?

I like horror movies. Call me crazy but if you're feeling down and watching a horror movie all those bad feelings go away. Yes they're replaced with being scared but there's nothing better than a good scare is there! PLUS, you might be down but then you think - ah well, could be worse! (after watching a horror movie). Apart from horror I quite like Spanish movies, also South American movies. They have a certain je ne sais quoi that takes me back home.
Music wise I'm quite open, I like random songs. I have Amy Winehouse "Valerie" and "Back to black" on my iPod as well as Jennifer Lopez, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rodrigo and Gabriela. All very mixed. A song for each mood!

Any favorite actors or artists you would like to admit to?

Hm favourite actors. I actually think Johnny Depp is really good. I recently watched Sweeney Todd and wasn't quite sure what I'd think about a musical but he's very good and does an excellent British accent!
And obviously I still have a crush on the guy from Twilight, Robert Pattinson. But he looks better with his make up on.
I like Penelope Cruz as well. Especially in Spanish movies, she's quite good.
Oh and Angelina Jolie surprised me as well. She's got something very cool about her. I've only seen Mr and Mrs Smith but I really liked the way she acted.

Any favorite movies/TV Shows/songs you would like to introduce the readers to?

Hmmmm. Well my freeview box broke so haven't been watching much TV lately.
I am trying to get the box set of Six Feet Under, I thought that was a very good show. Very different, versatile and good actors.
Songs - I woke up with a funny song in my head this morning "smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?" - Phoebe from friends!
There's a wonderful song by Snow Patrol I think they're called ,called "chasing cars". I don't have an idea as to what kind of music they do but I think everyone will like that song, it's so soothing and a part of the lyrics say something like "if I lie here, if I just lie here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?" - isn't that beautiful?

Thank you for your time Vivienne!

If you would like to find out more about her please visit her blog, Vivienne in Wonderland.

Just A Few Girls

Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to be a Goodfeather...

Like your typical teenager, I had a terrible self esteem. There is so much to say about that but I don't really want to make this blog THAT personal or mushy.

I never really searched for old acquaintances from my old schools. In fact, not intentionally, I made it difficult for any of them to find me if they were so inclined to search. I never really thought anybody would.

Finally, I created an account somewhere with my real name. I NEVER do that. In my career field though it became very difficult to explain to potential employers why nothing could be found about me on the internet. What I do basically requires that you have some kind of traceable evidence.

Anyway, within a matter of days I started receiving friend requests. I kept thinking, "They must be confusing me with someone else." I would even ask them why they were adding me. It turns out many people knew me. I would never call myself popular, in fact I still don't think I was. Apparently though I was relatively well known. Liked? Perhaps not but known.

I didn't even have a lot of girlfriends or even dates. To this day, INCLUDING my wife I've had a total of 4 girlfriends. I never actively searched for relationships. They just kind of fell into my lap, so to speak. I was happy that way. I wasn't a go-getter. The whole idea repulsed me.

I didn't want to play that game. "Hey there, nice weather." "Can I buy you a drink?" MEH! Because of who I am, if I met a woman at a bar to begin with, I would be having doubts about her before she even spoke. I never had any respect for "the hunt."

I was happy even though I knew that the chance that I would find a significant other were slim. There was nothing I could do about that. After all, if she couldn't accept me the way I was then I wouldn't want to be with a person like that anyway. She wouldn't be right for me.

I went off on an odd tangent there but I need you to get an idea of how I felt about myself and who I was in regards to relationships and popularity.

Looking back upon my teenage years I see a dorky tactless loser. After having many conversations with old acquaintances they brought to light many things I had forgotten.

In my life I dated one of the most popular girls in school, a cheerleader, a drill team captain and I topped it off by marrying a freakin' Prom Queen!

I had never seen things this way until recently but it just sounds so odd when I say it like that. I don't feel "good" about myself for my "successes" but for a person with a low self esteem (still) it makes me feel...OK.

It is quite the mindfork to see yourself through others' eyes.

Making The Band

So I've been messing around on Facebook in my "free" time. (As if there was such a thing.) I was tagged on this little game by Sarah Jane that I really had fun with. Here are the rules.

Making the Band

1. Go to wikipedia. Click on the Random Article link in the navigation pane on the left hand side. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. No do overs.

2. Go to Random quotations. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3. Go to flickr Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use a photo editor like Paint.net which is free, to put it all together.

5. Post it with the title, "Making The Band" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

I didn't spend much time with it because I wanted to crank it out, but it was still fun to do, hopefully you guys will join in. Here is mine.

I tag anyone willing to play!

Random@Random

So I'm sitting here with the wife, reclined and relaxing, glad to be home and warm. She and I are having a nonsense discussion just to pass the time. We thought you all could join in the fun.

I remember being a kid and knowing what it was like to not know how to "match"
colors with clothes. You know, black goes with everything and such...

So we started trying to remember what it was like to be color blind and think of the ugliest possible color combinations. So far we had olive green with pink and purple
with brown.

Any nominee's?