Amy tagged me for that seven random things about you meme, which is quite fortunate for me as I have no new knitting to talk about and no one to pinch hit for me.
Hmmm…this is hard. Don’t you people know EVERYTHING about me already? I always feel like I’m an open book. Forgive me if I’m repeating stuff.
1) A few people have sent me this link to tell me that Springsteen’s The River is No. 25 on The 25 Most Equisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World list. While I will agree that The River is a sad sad song and one that I very recently sat in the car and listened to about ten times while crying my eyes out, it’s not the saddest of Springsteen songs at ALL and it’s not my sad song of choice usually. Downbound Train is pretty freaking sad, if you ask me. Damn sad:
I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don’t you feel like you’re a rider on a downbound train
It only gets worse from there. Anyway, most of Bruce’s songs are tinged with sadness, that’s what makes them so good, but still and all, when I want my most sad song – the song I’ve reached for time and time again at the height of my depressiveness – it’s always Nik Kershaw’s Wouldn’t It Be Good.
I mean, c’mon!
I got it bad
You don’t know how bad I got it
You got it easy
You don’t know when you got it good
It’s getting harder
Just keeping life and soul together
I’m sick of fighting
Even though I know I should
The cold is biting
Through each and every nerve and fibre
My broken spirit is frozen to the core
Don’t wanna be here no more
Now THAT’S a sad song!
2) Grumperina was talking the other day about how she doesn’t like the number 4. I think she was specifically talking about the number 4 in terms of knitting repeats, but I kind of understood. I have a problem with odd numbers myself. I don’t like things to be odd. And I’m weird about odd primes (although don’t all primes have to be odd – well – except the number two?) I’ll add up numbers anyway I can to get me to a number where I feel comfortable. It’s not something I think about all the time, but it’s there. Weirdness abounds.
3) Whenever the clock hits all the same numbers (11:11, 5:55, 3:33, etc.) and I see it, I make a wish. It’s usually always the same wish, sometimes with different stuff added on to the end, but basically it’s the same. What?! I’m not going to tell you! Then it won’t come true.
4) I don’t cook very often, but when I do, stuffed shells is probably the best thing I make. It’s kind of funny because I just follow the recipe that’s on the box of pasta shells and I always use jar sauce, but it comes out SO GOOD. Much better than if you bought shells already stuffed. I HATE to stuff Manicotti though even though it’s the same recipe and everything. Something about getting that cheese evenly distributed in the pasta tube makes me NUTS.
5) I am the epitome of the saying: If you want something done, ask a busy man. I can procrastinate with the best of them when I’m not that busy. Give me a lot of work to do and I’m a machine. It kind of sucks because a lot of the time I’m not that busy (my work is pretty cyclical) and I sit around doing nothing. Then I get all kinds of crazy and I’m like a tornado. I’d love to be able to harness my energy better and maybe focus a bit more. That doesn’t mean I don’t get a lot done when I’m not working so hard (KNITTING LIKE A FIEND) but my house suffers and other stuff suffers and I should be better at being more even about work stuff. Not as much fun, for sure, but I won’t live in squalor probably.
6) I’ve got monkey feet (which maybe explains why I like the socks so much.) Seriously, I have very dexterous toes. I’ve never tried to write with my feet, but I bet you I could. I also have pretty perfect feet. No corns, no bumps, no bunions. No weird errant toe longer than the rest of them. Very pretty feet.
I love my feet.
7) The pool at my building is about to open next weekend but I will probably only go in once or twice the entire season. Not because I don’t like to swim – I LOVE to swim! But because the water is too cold. I’m very very particular about water temperature. It needs to be pretty comfortable for me to get in. I need to be able to walk right in without any shocks to the system. The only people that can get me in a cold pool are my niece and nephews and maybe, once a year, Georgie. He goes in the ocean when it’s FREEZING. He’s like a polar bear. Me, I’m like a jelly fish. 😉
Hope that wasn’t too boring. Thanks Amy! Oh yeah – anyone who wants to do this – go ahead! I’m probably like the last person in the world to do this so you’re probably all like wah! Another one of these stupid things? So go ahead – knock yourself out!
3:33 is the most mystical time.
Wouldn’t It Be Good is indeed a very sad song, but how about Plainsong by The Cure? Dang, that song turns me into an immobile slug on the couch. Oh! Or This Woman’s Work, by Kate Bush. Not the Maxwell version, because you’ll get distracted wondering if that’s a man or a woman singing.
The River is sad in that suburban realism kind of way, but the youthful urban desperation in Jungleland rips my heart out. Always been a favorite of mine. (Maybe it’s the howling vocal at the end–it gives me chills.)
I’m the same way with the work thing. If I’ve got a ton of stuff to do then it gets done no problem. If there’s very little to do I ignore it and goof off. Not good in a job like mine that’s also very cyclical. It would be why I’m reading blogs and blogging at work;)
I’m also the same way about pools. Very very picky about water temperature.
I can’t seem to get “Wouldn’t It Be Good” out of my head now. What’s even scarier is that I still have the album in the back of my closet…
I also haven’t thought of making stuffed shells in ages. Now I want them for dinner tonight.
I make wishes whenever I see the clock at those times as well- ha! Where in the heck did that start, anyway??
Back when I worked in an office (my freelance work patterns are like yours), I would happen to look at the clock at 3:33 in the afternoon almost every day. I never thought about, it just happened. I think that marked the moment when I wished the day was over so I could go home. I hate working in an office.
Back when I worked in an office (my freelance work patterns are like yours), I would happen to look at the clock at 3:33 in the afternoon almost every day. I never thought about, it just happened. I think that marked the moment when I wished the day was over so I could get out of that office. So, I guess I was wishing too. I don’t work in an office anymore, so there ya go. Wish came true. 🙂
I’ve seen those toes in action. You still flippin’ people off with your toes???
; )
You are not the last person to do this: I’ve been tagged twice, not counting all the “do this if you want”s, and still haven’t gotten to it. Then again, I’ve (still) never made a Jaywalker either, nor a clapotis, nor a Moth.
I am extremely fond of the number 120, which is (I believe) the smallest number that’s a multiple of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 (and also a bunch of bigger numbers). 72 and 96 are also very handy.
You wouldn’t believe how hard I tried to get my daughter born at 5:05 AM on May 5, 2005. Didn’t happen.
There’s always new stuff to know about people, that’s what keeps life going. Nice toes.
My go to song when I want to wallow in it is The Smiths:
Good times for a change
See, the luck I’ve had
Can make a good man
Turn bad
So please please please
Let me, let me, let me
Let me get what I want
This time
Havent had a dream in a long time
See, the life I’ve had
Can make a good man bad
So for once in my life
Let me get what I want
Lord knows, it would be the first time
Lord knows, it would be the first time
Short, but so sorrowful.
You really do have very nice feet. It’s funny how people with perfect feet love them so much. My mom has pretty feet, and even though she’s a very pretty woman in general, it’s her feet of all things that she seems to love the most.
I had a girlfriend in high school who could tie knots using only her toes. I didn’t believe it until she demonstrated. There, now I have given you a goal 🙂
I was just you did a meme. I live where it’s fairly warm 😉 and I never swim until at least July. Never after Sept. No shocks please…
Whaaa??? Flippin’ people off with your toes? Well, I never….
i am very weird about numbers too. my alarm is always set so that the minute digits add up to the hour digit(s), for instance. and i normally only like odd numbers, except 3, which i HATE, and 4 which i LOVE.
I totally make a wish everytime I see 1:11 or 11:11 etc. on the clock. My wishes vary but they are all pretty related.
you do have purdy feet! oh and i’m so the same way with regards to work, give me lots and i’m like a well oiled machine but when i have like one or two things to do – i sit at my desk (read blogs) and wish I was knitting!
Yay, thanks for playing! I think you have the most beautiful feet I’ve ever seen, seriously!
I love the fact that I was born at 11:11 p.m. It just makes me happy.
Those really are great feet — lucky you! 🙂
Oh, I do that clock thing too! Someone told me it was good luck when I was a kid and it stuck…
I also share your tendency to procrastinate unless I have a lot to do. However, my work isn’t really cyclical, so I attribute it to a belief that I thrive under pressure, although I suspect it might really just be laziness which then leads to pressure…
I am the same way! My husband calls me a creature of comfort! 🙂
My nickname around the fam is monkey toes! Something that I didn’t know we had in common. Monkey toes can be quite handy!
after reading all of the other comments, I can’t remember what I was going to say. LOL!! Great post though
I’m not a foot connoisseur or anything but I have to say that you do have lovely feet! I’m surprised that you cover them up with socks – even such gorgeous ones as you make with STR!!
“Brilliant Disguise” always does it for me as far as sad Bruce songs go, but “If God Would Send His Angels” by U2 (I know) is down right crushing for me. Thank god you posted the video for Nik Kershaw . . . his career really should have been bigger than it was.
I personally have a thing for 11:11 as it is the only four number repeat in the day . . . see, I can get you and Grumperina all in one fell swoop.
Jealous of the feet . . . mine look like gnarled up old lady, bunioned, dry pieces of shit.
My husband calls me monkey feet too! And I have tried to write with my toes. After first uncapping the pen and turning to a suitably blank page. All with my toes. 🙂
You knit all those socks to adorn your beloved feet, huh? Kind of like paying homage to them…
You knit all those socks to adorn your beloved feet, huh? Kind of like paying homage to them…
1). I LOVE that Nik Kershaw song. Also, for sadness – anything by The Smiths. For anger, anything by Nirvana.
2). I love prime numbers, but not for knitting.
3). The time I always seem to run into is 9:11 a.m., which of course, reminds me of the 9/11 events. Very sad.
Nik Kershaw – “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack – yeah! I listed to that soundtrack incessantly during high school. And, um, also college.
I, too, can do all sorts of fun things with my toes/feet. But mine aren’t as pretty as yours.
I actually have that Nik Kershaw song on my ipod. For some reason I don’t remember the video except for the ending.
I have always felt that The River (LP) is very sad even though it brings back some great memories.
Wow, you do have nice feet!
but can you knit with those pretty toes. 😉
I think the entire Boss album “The Ghost of Tom Joad” is a real tear jerker-and one of my favorites. The first time I heard the entire version of the song by Five for Fighting “One Hundred Years” I was nearly hysterical for an hour. I still can’t hear it without being affected. (It was used for a Chase credit commercial if you don’t know the song.) Now, that’s a good song. And, Kurt Cobain’s unplugged album…I play harp-and I have a medley that I use of Motherless Child and Wayfaring Stranger..and that affects even me every time I play it..quite moving…
Cara, you do indeed have pretty feet!
Sophia has monkey toes too… and I love ’em..just like I love yours!!
My husband has monkey toes too. It runs in his family. 🙂
It was fun reading your 7 things.