BBC Book List

I found this via a friend on Facebook. The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? I've read about a quarter:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - x
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - x
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - x
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - x
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy - x
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - x
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger – x
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - x
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald – x
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll –x
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma-Jane Austen – x
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - x
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - x
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen –x
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - x
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabakov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - x
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola – x
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens – x
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker - x
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry - x
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare – x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Visual DNA redux

I was looking at all my old posts on memes and quizzes and decided to take this one again since I last did it. While my answers have changed, the outcome hasn't - I'm still a Sofisticat more than 2 years later.

One Word Meme

Been awhile since I've done one of these. via Adrienne.

1. Where is your mobile phone? bag
2. Relationship? wha?
3. Your hair? ponytail
4. Work? numbercrunching
5. Your sister(s)? younger
6. Your favourite thing? home
7.Your dream last night? nope
8. Your favourite drink? chai
9. Your dream car? disinterested
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your shoes? barefeet
12. Your fears? failure
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? married
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? mom
15. What are you not good at? sports
16. Muffin? Carrot
17. Wish list item? TulipTable
18. Where you grew up? Toronto
19. The last thing you did? Ate
20. What are you wearing? Shorts'n'T
21. What are you not wearing? Watch
22. Your pet? Nope
23. Your computer? MacBookPro
24. Your life? Crossroads
25. Your mood? Chill
26. Missing? Piglet
27. What are you thinking about? Sleep
28. Your car? Accord
29. Your kitchen? Scavolini
30. Your summer? Cool
31. Your favourite colour? Purple
32. Last time you laughed? 4:30pm
33. Last time you cried? Dunno
34. School? Missed
35. Love? Sure

Which Jane Austen character are you? (redux)

When I took this quiz last year, I was Marianne Dashwood, which came as a bit of a surprise. And because I'm procrastinating, I decided to take it again, just for kicks because it came up in LinkWithin. This time around, I'm Elinor:

"You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see."

Take the Quiz here!

What is your Design Style?

I found this quiz via Elements of Style and I'm apparently Fatale Attraction (really?!):

Your home oozes glamour and romance. It's fabulous, sexy and sophisticated (just like you, non?!). Of course, you can have too much of a good thing, and sometimes holding back will create more impact than going hell for leather. You love life, and your home is perfect for good times and having fun.

Living Room
You are drawn to all things that combine beauty with adventure. This is a high-octane, unabashed, sensual look that encompasses everything that's luxurious, voluptuous and curvaceous. Think rich fabrics, textured materials and glossy surfaces. While glamour makes a big, bold statement, it also smacks of total comfort and fun. Modern accessories will make a sleek counterpoint, allowing an outstanding sofa, for example, to take centre-stage. Dark colours work well if you use the room mainly during the evenings and at night, while glamorous prints and patterns are fun and stylish. Curled up on the sofa with a good book, your living room's the perfect place for some "me-time".

Bedroom
Your bedroom has that classic look that never goes out of style. Sleep is fundamentally important to our well being. Clean, fresh air can truly aid sleep, but so, too, does a well-made bed and the best mattress you can afford. Touch is an important issue in the bedroom, from crisp, linen sheets to wool or even sheepskin underfoot. Elegance and relative simplicity are keynotes in your bedroom, using vibrant colours to make a bold statement.

Dining Room
You're a clean slate waiting for a dash of spice. Different meals and types of food lend themselves to different styles of dining. Think about how you live your life and even the sorts of places where you like to eat out, and use these to create a dining area that suits your needs and reflects your personality. When it comes to entertaining, you like quite simple (some might say 'peasant') food with big, robust flavours.

Home Office
Office life's never dull when you're around! No matter how independent you might be, like everybody else you'll have bills to pay. A dedicated home office will help you keep on top of the 'boring bits'. Space permitting, you can make a real 'statement' with your choice of desk -- a talking point for visitors and a pleasure for you to work at.

Conclusion
Your lust for life and having a good time shines through in every room of your home.

21%

According to The Big Read, the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books on this list. via

The instructions:
Look at the list and:
Bold those you have read.
Italicize those you intend to read
Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92.The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Which Jane Austen character are you?

Came across this via Ill Seen, Ill Said, and I must say I'm surprised by the results considering what I remember of her in the novel...but then I read the description:

"You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately."

And I suppose I'm all those things to some degree...well, all except playing the pianoforte...I can't even play chopsticks, which is something I think everyone else knows how to play but me, and according to the framed Royal Conservatory of Music certificate somewhere in the basement, I can play at the Grade 2 level. Go figure.

Take the Quiz here!

Go Free Rice

You have time to kill? Well go and play Free Rice - for each word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. Thanks to the competitive element - my best vocab level so far is 43 - it's better than any Word-of-the-Day and you actually learn something while killing time and doing good. For example - did you know that tatterdemalion is another word for ragamuffin because I didn't even know it was a word! How's that for value-add?

Child of the 80s

Stolen from Adrienne... :)

1. Did you ever end a sentence with the word “PSYCH!” Yup
2. Did you ever own a pound puppy? No, I thought they were kinda ugly
3. Which “heavy metal” group did you like? Um...Bon Jovi? not really heavy metal, I know, but I associate heavy metal with hair and they had the hair
4. What was your favorite Blondie song? Call Me.
5. Strawberry Shortcake or Holly Hobby? Strawberry Shortcake. Who the heck was Holly Hobby?
6. Admit it, you owned the Strawberry Shortcake little scented dolls? I was a deprived child.
7. What are “Hammer Pants”, and what is “Hammer Time?” Hammer Pants were popularized by MC Hammer, and Hammer Time was one of his hit songs.
8. Fraggle Rock or the Muppets Show? Muppets.
9. Saturday Mornings - Smurfs or Kids Inc.? Smurfs! La la la la la la
10. Did you rock the side ponytail? No. I could never get it to sit right on the side.
11. Did you play the game MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)? Huh?
12. How many pairs of L.A. Gear did you own? One, I think they were lavender and mint green.
13. Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing or Are you There God? It’s Me Margaret? Neither
14. Did you ever “wax on” and “wax off”? Yes
15. Do you even know what I’m talking about? Yes.
16. Did you wear flourescent clothing (Be Truthful!)? Yes, it was pink.
17. Michael Jackson or Prince? Prince - my cousin A's influence.
18. Name three actors from the movie Goonies. Corey Haim and Corey Feldman?
19. Cabbage Patch Kids or Garbage Pail Kids? I had a blond cornsilk doll
20. What lunch box did you carry to school? I didn't have one since I lived close enough that I could go home for lunch as a kid.
21. Slap bracelets? Nope.
22. Hypercolor t-shirts or Jelly Shoes? Both - I loved my jellys!
23. George Michael or Boy George? Do you really want to hurt me?
24. Friendship Pins or Friendship Bracelets? I had both.
25. Madonna or Cyndi Lauper? Madonna! I still have the towel and stickers I got in Amsterdam during her True Blue World Tour.
26. Did you wear penny loafers with a penny in them, and rolled up jeans? Rolled up jeans, yes...didn't have the loafers though
27. What 80’s movie did Julia Roberts mark her debut in (*hint* not pretty woman)? Mystic Pizza.
28. Do you know what happened to Baby Jessica? No.
29. What TV show did Johnny Depp get his start? 21 Jump Street.
30. Corey Haim or Corey Feldman? Push comes to shove, Haim because Feldman looked like a girl...but really, neither.
31. Did you own a Rubix cube, and if so, were you able to ever solve it? Yes and no.
32. What NFL team performed the “Superbowl Shuffle”? No idea.
33. Where were you when the space shuttle “Challenger” blew up? Dunno.
34. Run DMC remade what group’s song “Walk this Way”, and performed the new take with them? Aerosmith
35. Frankie says? Huh?
36. How many swatches did you own? Do you remember the colors? One, and it was blue/clear.
37. New Coke or Classic Coke? Classic.
38. Who was your favorite Facts of Life character? Jo, maybe.
39. Prince Charles and Diana or Luke and Laura? Diana for sure.
40. Did you own an Atari? If so, what was your favorite game? Didn't have one, but my cousins did and I like Carnival and Galaga.
41. What is the “Eye of the Tiger”? No idea.
42. Are you singing it in your head now? Just that one part.
43. Did you think high school was going to be like Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Haven't seen the movie
44. Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles? Can't recall if I've seen either of these movies in their entirety
45. What movie provided the famous line…”THEIR HEEEEERRRRREEE”? Dunno
46. Did you wear leg warmers? Yes.
47. Wacky Wallwalker or Stretch Armstrong? Huh?
48. Pee Wee sang “The Stars at Night…are Big and Bright!” in what famous movie? Not a fan
49. Couldn’t wait for the summer for Slip and Slide? Never played on one before.
50. Did you wear scrunched up socks with your reeboks? Possibly but I don't remember.
51. Rainbow Bright or My Little Pony? My Little Pony
52. Magic Johnson or Larry Bird? I don’t care.
53. We Are the World or The Greatest Love of All? We are the World.
54. Did you say “What you talking ’bout Willis”? Possibly
55. What was the hair spray of choice for girls around the nation to unreasonably tease their hair? I think the brand around here was Final Net.
56. Did you own banana clips? Yes, but they never worked for me - too much hair.
57. The Cosby Show or Family Ties? Family Ties
58. Did you ever think She-Ra and He-man should have hooked up? Totally.
59. Barbie or Jem? Jem.
60. Do you remember going to the skating ring BEFORE inline skates? I've never been and have only ever known inline skates
61. What fast food restaurant put out the famous commercial, Where’s the Beef? Wendy’s.
62. Did you rush home to watch the “After School Specials”? No. I watched Scooby Doo.
63. Ferris Bueller or Teen Wolf? Ferris Bueller.
64. You still have the “Eye of the Tiger” in your head, don’t you? No
65. Who ya gonna call? “GHOSTBUSTERS!”
66. Flashdance or Footloose? Neither, really.
67. Tiffany or Debbie Gibson? Debbie Gibson
68. What was the first video MTV played? Video Killed the Radio Star.
69. What was ET’s favorite candy? Reese’s Pieces.
70. What TV show did Bruce Willis star in? Moonlighting.
71. What was the name of the talking car in Knight Rider? KITT
72. What song had the words “Gag me with a spoon”? Dunno
73. What character on a TV show liked to eat cats? Alf.
74. Name six members of the Brat Pack? Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore
75. Duran Duran or Depeche Mode? Duran Duran.
76. What group did New Order evolve from? Dunno.
77. What was the name of the Bjork fronted 80’s band? Dunno
78. Name all five New Kids on the Block. Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe McIntyre and Danny Wood
79. What TV actress co-starred in the movie “Howard the Duck”? Dunno
80. Name the 4th original member of Depeche Mode, went on to form Yaz, and then another more lasting group? No idea.
81. What speed did Marty have to reach in order to activate the flux capacitor (*hint* Back to the Future*) Dunno
82. Name Buck Rogers pal. dunno.
83. What was the name of the bartender on The Love Boat? can't remember
84. What was the name of the once Morissey-fronted band of the 80’s? No clue.
85. Did you wear the Izod polo shirts? No
86. Esprit, Guess, or Forenza? Esprit
87. Did you think you would be killed by pop rocks and soda *be honest*? I've never heard this before
88. The California Raisins or Spuds McKenzie? Raisins
89. Did you skateboard, and if so, did you make sure you had on all your Vision Streetwear on before you went out as if you were Gator Rogowski? I did not.
90. Do you remember Max Headroom, and if so, what commercials do you remember him from? Yes and Pepsi, I think
91. Did you own a Beta or VHS? VHS.
92. Do you remember the “Baby on Board” trend? What did you think? No
93. Let’s get? Physical? It on? Physical.
94. What was the name of Don Johnson’s character on Miami Vice? Crockett.
95. Solid Gold or Dance Fever? Solid Gold.
96. Halloween or Friday the 13th? I don't do scary movies
97. Beat Street or Breakin? Is this a reference to breakdancing? If so, breakin.
98. What Irish rock group had us all singing, Sunday, Bloody Sunday? U2.
99. What was the trendy term for popular music in the 80’s? Uh...pop?

Scattergories

I stole this from Adrienne, who reminded me of the times I played Scattergories with friends, and M in particular. I'm not usually competitive with games but he has this knack of bringing out the trash-talker in me. :)

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.

1. Famous singer/band: Jesus Jones
2. 4 letter word: joke
3. Street name: Jones Ave.
4. Colour: jaune
5. Gifts/presents: jam
6. Vehicle: jeep
7. Things in a souvenir shop: jerky
8. Boy name: Jack
9. Girl name: Jessica
10. Movie title: Jumanji
11. Drink: julep
12. Occupation: janitor
13. Flower: jasmine
14. Celebrity: Jennifer Lopez
15. Magazine: Jasmine
16. U.S. city: Jacksonville, FL
17. Pro sports teams: Jets
18. Fruit/vegetable: jackfruit
19. Reason late for work: jury duty
20. Something you throw away: junk
21. Things you shout: Jeez!!
22. Cartoon character: Jem!

My Visual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

via

Wise One. Ha!

via.

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Look into my eyes

You Communicate With Your Eyes

When you say, "I'll believe it when I see it" - you really mean it. For you, what you see is a lot more important than what you hear. You don't take someone's words at face value. You judge people by their facial expressions, body language, and appearance. You tend to be quiet, but when you talk, you tend to make eye contact and describe things in colorful detail.

How Do You Communicate?

100 Questions

I stole this from my friend wL off Facebook:

1. How old will you be in five years? 35
2. What month is your birthday? September
3. How tall are you? 5'7"
4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Continued warm weather and my cute, cute skirts
5. Last person you ate with? My friend A in our work lunchroom
6. Who is the last person you called? My mom
7. Who was the last person to call you? Membership services at the Royal Ontario Museum
8.What are you wearing? blue shorts and a pink T
9. Do you prefer call or text? Depends
10. Do you have any pets? No
11. What were you doing at 2am last night? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Widowed
13. When is the last time you saw your mom? An hour ago when I got home from work
14. What color are your eyes? Brown
15. What time did you wake up today? 6:55 am but I snoozed until 7:15
16. What's the last song you sang? A remix of Fill Me In by Craig David
17. What's your favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells - it's the only carol I can think of that refers to shopping ;)
18. Where is your favorite place to be? In the comfort of my own home
19. Where is your least favorite place to be? In a crowd with people jostling and invading my personal space
20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Around the world uninterrupted.
21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs? Maybe in Toronto, but who knows?
22. Do you tan or burn? Tan - although I have been known to burn if I'm dumb and don't wear sunscreen prior to going out in the sun for prolonged periods
23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? Nothing - I slept in the same bedroom as my parents until I don't remember when...maybe when we moved up to the burbs when I was 9?
24. What was the last thing that made you laugh? Don't remember what exactly but it was earlier today at work
25. How many TVs do you have in your house? 6 - we're a 2 TV per person household
26. Who do you miss most? My dad
27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? Laptop
28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on? I like my pjs
29. What color are your sheets? White, presently
30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 3
31. What is your favorite season? Summer
32. What do you like about Fall? Milder weather, leaves changing colours
33. What do you like about winter? Snow and my winter wardrobe
34. What do you like about the summer? Warm weather, drinks on the patio, BBQs and wearing pretty skirts
36. How many provinces/territories have you lived in? 1
37. How many cities/towns have you lived in? 2
38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? Shoes
39. Are you a social person? I can be depending on the situation
40. What was the last thing you ate? Wonton and noodles
41. What is your favorite restaurant? No fair - too many to name
42. What is your favorite ice cream? Cookies 'n' Cream
43. What is your favorite dessert? Creme Brulee
44. What is your favorite kind of soup? Wild Mushroom
45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? Strawberry
46. Do you like Chinese food? Yes
47. Do you like coffee? Yes
48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? 2 or 3
50. Would you rather sleep with someone or alone? Depends on the someone
51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? The left side
52. Do you know how to play poker? No
53. Do you like to cuddle? Yes
54. Have you ever been to The States? Yes
55. Do you have an addictive personality? What does this mean exactly?
56. Do you eat out or at home more often? Home
58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? No
59. Do you want kids? Yes
60. Do you speak any other languages? English, Cantonese, and limited French, Hakka and Mandarin (at the moment anyway)
61. Have you ever gotten stitches? No
62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No
63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? Not big on swimming but I love the sound of the ocean
64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat? Window if it's a shorthaul, aisle if it's longhaul because I feel bad asking the person next to me to move so I can use the facilities
65. Do you know how to drive stick? No, but I want to learn in case I have to one day drive the getaway car and it's stick ;)
66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? Probably books...followed by beads/jewellery, bags and clothes in no particular order
67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? Yes - my bracelet and stud earrings
68. What is your favorite TV show? Ugly Betty
69. Can you roll your tongue? Don't think so
70. Who is the funniest person you know? I don't know
71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No
72. What is the main ring tone on your phone? Sony Ericsson Ringlord
73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little? No
74. What color are your bedroom walls? CIL - Pine Scent, if I recall correctly
75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth? Yes
76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Closed
77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? Neither
78. Do you flirt a lot? I don't think so - which probably explains why I'm still single
79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Sweet'n' Sour / Plum sauce
80. What is your favorite food? Again, no fair. See 41.
81. Can you change the oil on a car? No - why get your hands dirty if you don't have to? Besides, my car comes with lifetime oil change.
82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? Yes
83. Have you ever run out of gas? No
84. What is your usual bedtime? Midnight
86. Do you read the newspaper? Yes
87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Yes
88. Best comedian? Russell Peters is top of mind
89. Do you watch soap operas? Not anymore
90. Do you dance in the car? I've been known to when I'm the passenger and the beats are good
91. What's something people might not know about you? I'm not as self-assured as I appear to be....nor as smart
92. Do you prefer silver or gold? White gold
93. First thing on your to do list? Go to the gym
94. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
95 How often are you on Facebook? It's now part of my email routine, so everyday
96. Do you have any bad habits? I'm impatient
97. Are you a romantic? I'm a cynical romantic
98. Crayons or markers? Markers
99. Weirdest pet you've owned? Um...no.
100. Are you waiting for something or someone? Isn't life all about waiting? No (person) is an island and all that...

One Word Meme

Via Bookmark My Heart.

1. Where is your cell phone? Bag
2. Describe your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/lover? Non-existent
3. Your hair? Up
4. Your mother? Loving
5. Your father? Dead
6. Your favourite item? Book
7. Your dream last night? Nope
8. Your favourite drink? Martini
9. Your dream car? Coupe
10. The room you are in? Formal
11. Your ex? Vancouver
12. Your fear? Bugs
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Wiser
14. Who did you hang out with last night? Cousin
15. What you’re not? Patient
16. The last thing you did? Ate
17. What are you wearing? Fleece
18. Your favourite book? Alchemist
19. The last thing you ate? Dinner
20. Your mood? Reflective
21. Your friends? Good
22. What are you thinking about right now? Peru
23. Your car? Dirty
24. What are you doing at the moment? Meming
25. Your summer? Fun
26. Your relationship status? Single

Me? Alpha Dog? Hardly.

My friend posted this on Facebook - yes, Facebook. I still don't know what the big deal is about but it's only been a week.

Anyway, back to me being an alpha dog. Ha! I'll say that most of the points below are right, to a point. But then, it's like horoscopes, right? Everything is right to a point.

Orange-red as my power colour though? Really? I was told by a psychic in Hong Kong back in 2005 to avoid wearing red clothes. But maybe that was true for 2005 only...

Your Birthdate: September 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

5 Things About Me

I've been tagged for a meme by The Lone Beader to state 5 things about me so here goes:

1. I'm a recovering compulsive planner and control freak. Case in point: For my NYC trip with my cousin A in the spring of 2005, I read up on restaurants to dine in, museums and art galleries to visit and plays/musicals to go see and compiled detailed spreadsheets for review. After making my choices, I called ahead to book tables or reserved online on OpenTable.com and bought tickets to our shows online. To keep track of it all, I made up a colour-coded Master Schedule of our 5 days and 4 nights broken up in hourly increments - yellow for sights, green for dining, pink for entertainment and orange for to-do's. Yes, I have a problem. But I'm working on it. (The boy actually thinks I'm laidback!)

2. If there was one food staple I could not live without, it's rice. Maybe it's because I'm Chinese and that's what I've eaten at meal times for much of my life, but it's so versatile if you think about it - it can be eaten plain or fried up in infinite ways. It can be made up in congee or in a dessert (black glutinous rice with coconut milk is one of my favourites!) and it can be served sticky or wrapped in lotus leaves (my aunt makes the best sticky rice ever!) It's divine when steamed with coconut milk and so good in sushi...yum. And that's just skimming the surface of the Asian methods of preparing rice. There's risotto, another favourite...and the many different types of rice - there's long grain and short grain, there's brown rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice, arborio rice....the list just goes on and on.

3. I had to change my Chinese name last year just before I bought my condo because my superstitious mother had a feng shui master friend of hers do a reading for me. As a fire dragon, my name was entirely inappropriate because there was too much fire in it and changing my name to something softer is supposed to have an affect on my personality and luck in love. Ya right. I had a choice of 3 new names to choose from so I picked the one that sounded the least country bumpkin to my ears - the bonus is that the Chinese character is easier than the original. Aside from the name change though, I had to find a condo that met a seemingly impossible combination of requirements, one of which was that it must not face west. Why, you may ask? Too much fire. I had many an argument with my mother about how crazy it was but I'm still enough of my mother's daughter that I couldn't completely go against her wishes. In the end, I was able to find a floor plan that met all the requirements to a T...thankfully, it was in short order too.

4. I majored in Economics in university but didn't like it at all. If I could have, I would have switched to History instead because I love to research and write papers. Some people dread them, but me? I'd take a paper ANY DAY! If only the upper-year courses I wanted to take in European history had been offered...but they weren't so an Economics major I remained.

5. I used to read cheesy Harlequin romances like they were going out of style. I'd come home for the weekend from university with my first stop being the library where I'd pick up a dozen paperbacks. I'd then go home and settle in for the weekend. Not a single call to my friends. I'd spend the weekend in my PJs devouring 4 or 5 in succession, reading into the early morning hours and then head back to school recharged and refreshed.

I'm now supposed to send it to 5 blog friends but I don't have any to send it to - the blogs I frequent on a regular basis don't often have a comment facility so this is where I fail. : ( This was fun though! I do love these things. : )

100 Titles

I came across this meme over at Bookmark My Heart and despite being sleepy, I'm a sucker for these things and couldn't help myself.

I'd like to preface this by saying that it may be rather harsh to say I wouldn't touch the stricken titles with a 10 foot pole...I'm just less indifferent towards them then I am with the titles I've ignored.

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. +A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. +Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
17. +Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. +The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. +I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. +The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. *The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. +The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. +Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. +She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. +A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. *Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. +The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. +The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. +Emma (Jane Austen)
86. *Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. +The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. +In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Me 'n' Books

I came across this meme at Bookmark My Heart so how could I resist?

1. Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Trade paper. Hardbacks are expensive and not comfortable to hold while reading in bed, mass papers are small and don't open well when they're thick, and trade papers sometimes come with french flaps which I love.
2. Amazon or brick and mortar? Both. I like browsing in store but I find books are more often discounted online...and I prefer Chapters as it's Canadian and I have an iRewards card.
3. Barnes & Noble or Borders? Neither. In Canada, it's either Chapters or Indigo, and since they're one and the same, it really doesn't matter.
4. Bookmark or dogear? BOOKMARK ALWAYS!! I'm super-anal about my books - I don't even like to crack the spine!
5. Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Random-ish. There is some method to my madness.
6. Keep, throw away, or sell? Keep because I plan on having a library of my own one day soon (that's what the den in my condo is destined for!)
7. Keep dustjacket or toss it? Keep.
8. Read with dustjacket or remove it? Remove it (see 4.)
9. Short story or novel? Novel - I prefer character and plot development over the snapshot of short stories...I don't find them satisfying.
10. Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Probably anthology since I've been known to buy ones published by Harlequin Romance in the past.
11. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter - can't wait for the final volume! I've the first Lemony Snicket but couldn't get past the first chapter.
12. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Depends on how engaged I am in the book. I've been known to pull all-nighters to finish a book if it's THAT good.
13. “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Once upon a time because I like cheesy romances and don't like to be scared.
14. Buy or Borrow? Buy because I'm stocking my library, unless I'm due for a cheesy romance fix, then I'll go to the library and borrow about 20 Harlequins and read them over the next couple weeks.
15. New or used? New - see 4 above.
16. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Browse, and upon occasion, recommendation.
17. Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Depends on the book.
18. Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Usually night-time reading because that's when I have the time.
19. Standalone or series? Both.
20. Favorite series? Harry Potter, Griffin & Sabine, and the various trilogies by Nora Roberts - when I'm feeling blue, or need a mindless fix, I'll pick up one of her books and visit with some of my favourite couples.
21. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? My taste doesn't run to the weird and obscure.
22. Favorite books read last year? The Thirteenth Tale.
23. Favorite books of all time? The Alchemist, Essays in Love, Conditions of Love, Nora Roberts' romances (see 19.)

I also stumbled upon this quiz, and apparently I'm a Literate Good Citizen. Heh.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Book Snob
Dedicated Reader
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You?Create Your Own Quiz