Blocking the Block

There's not much of interest to write about right now--though I'm sure you're all dying to know how many hours I sit on the couch--but I want to get back into the habit of blogging on a regular basis. To that end, I'm using memes, because they generate thought, and at least I'm writing something.

This one comes from The Queen's Meme, and I'm not answering all the questions.

The Firsts Meme
(a totally random and useless meme about firsts)


1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

I thought I looked rested, finally. I slept for 10 hours last night, the first time this summer. It was a huge improvement.


2. Where did you go on the very first vacation of your life?

I don't know. I moved from New York to Florida when I was two months old, does that count?

One of the first vacations I remember is my family's first camping trip. We are not hardy mountain folk, but we did a lot of camping when I was younger.

On that first trip, I was probably four or five; my sister Joon would have been two or three. We borrowed a tent from another family and drove up into ... wherever we went. (I don't even know where we were living; it must have been Louisiana, but I don't think we went to the mountains there.) [Ed: My mother said it was Jellystone Park.]

As far as I remember, things were going really well. We'd eaten in the great outdoors (though I'm fairly certain we ate something totally processed and preserved, because we aren't the hunter/gatherer type either), sat around a campfire, and rolled ourselves into our sleeping bags for the night.

Then it started to rain. The tent began to leak, and things were getting tense out there in the wilderness.

I can only remember bits and pieces of this trip, since I was so young, but I do know that we packed up in the middle of the night and went home.

In a blazing defiance of Flower Protocol, my dad did NOT declare camping to be the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of and make a raised-fist statement in the vein of Scarlett O'Hara ("As God is my witness, I'LL NEVER GO CAMPING AGAIN."). Actually, we went camping a lot, in many fine campsites up and down the East Coast.

It must be noted, however, that I have made this statement myself. I hate camping, because I always wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom, but I convince myself that there is a hook-handed escapee from a lunatic asylum right outside the tent, so I just lie awake and twist my legs around each other until morning. True story.


3. Open the door of your refrigerator. What is the first thing you see?

The hollowed shell of a watermelon. I didn't want bugs, so I couldn't put it in the garbage can. I might run down to the dump tomorrow.

Watermelon is the single greatest fruit in the world, and I will fight somebody about this.


4. What is the first thing you do when you get in your car?

Lock the doors. We Flowers are a paranoid bunch, and we lock everything, even if it's unnecessary. My brother-in-law calls my parents' house The Fortress, on account of there are three locks to get through when opening the front door.

When I'm driving downtown, I'm always hyper-alert, because I get about 10,000 email forwards from people warning me about the newest gang initiation, which always involves a carjacking and a rape. So I drive like this:



I always lock the door first thing when I get out of the car too.


5. If you had created the world in seven days yourself, what would you have created on the First Day?

To be honest, I probably would have created a clone of myself. Then we would have sat around trying to one-up each other in a nerd contest, and I would have forgotten about creating the rest of the world. Sometimes it's good that I'm not in charge.


6. What is the first song in your IPOD or song list?

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," by Jennifer Holliday. I should mention that, while this is obviously an awesome song, it's first because my song list is alphabetized.


7. When was the last time you needed FirstAid?

A little over a month ago, I managed to slice off my pinky fingernail while shaving my legs. Given the amount of blood that gushed into the bathtub, it's probably a good thing that the police didn't have a reason to be visiting my house right then (not that they EVER do). I bled for a straight hour, went through two hand towels, AND I couldn't find my good bandaids.

This is a good argument for waxing.

8. Can you explain what a first down is in football?

Yes, but only because I was in the marching band. You know what? I bet I haven't watched a football game in about 10 years. Hunh.

That is not a complaint.