and the went in the went for it

  1. Lauren asked, “If you were going to pee on a tree, what kind of tree would it be?”
    I would totally pee on a certain three foot artificial multicolored prelit tree from Target on which only half of the lights actually light up. I would try to remember to unplug it before peeing on it.
  2. Hugo asked, “What’s the best thing that has happened to you in 2006? Not your family or friends or the world, but to you?
    I’ve been really lucky to enjoy some professional successes this year. I started in a new position in January, and since then, I’ve been invited to speak at two conferences – one for the Southeast region and one for the Mid-Atlantic region, and I’ve been elected to a state board for my field.
  3. Tony asked, “What is the longest you’ve gone without speaking to (or emailing) any member of your immediate family?”
    I’m not sure – about a week, maybe? Maybe two? My family doesn’t do estrangement or the silent treatment very well. We prefer to scream at each other and then cry and make up. I was a total asshole in college for a while, and I think there were a few times when I let two weeks or so go by without communicating with any of them.
  4. Sandy asked, “Who’s your secret crush?”
    It’s you, Sandy. It’s you. No, seriously, I don’t really have a secret crush, I guess. Lately the majority of my crushes have been on my fake TV boyfriends, much to my parents’ dismay.
  5. Hodgee asked, “How many goats does your father have?”
    My father has eight goats. He allows five of them to live in his house. One of my father’s young male goats enjoys chewing on my father’s beard.
  6. Lollie asked, “Do you have any scars?”
    Yes, a few. Mostly on my hands. Hey, didn’t I just write something about scars? Hmm?
  7. Kate M asked, “Have you forgiven me?”
    I answered this one in an email, but for those of you following along at home, the answer is “yes, of course.” In fact, maybe this comment is the best thing that happened to me this year.
  8. Sammi asked, “Tell me what you want, what you really really want.”
    I want you to never quote the Spice Girls on my website ever again. Let’s also pretend I don’t have a Spice Girls CD in my car right now.
  9. Will asked me to describe my life in ten years and in thirty years.
    I’m saving those answers for a later post. Stay tuned!
  10. ~A asked, “What would Alec Trebek say to the two above?”
    I don’t know, but he’d probably tell you his name was Alex. :) Emoticon abuse!
  11. Ken asked, “On New Year’s 2007, what would you tell your New Year’s 2002-self to do/not do?”
    I’m getting to this weird place in my life where I can’t remember events that weren’t chronicled on this site. I say that because I don’t remember New Year’s 2002 very clearly. I guess I would tell myself not to get trashed at my first professional conference in February. Er, not that that actually happened or anything. Just hypothetically.
  12. cK asked, “Have you ever seen what you felt was a ghost? and, if so, will you retell it?”
    My father’s father died suddenly when my dad was in high school, so we never had a chance to know him. I never personally witnessed anything weird that I remember, but my mother swore for years that Grandaddy was watching over us in our houses in Colorado, and has a long list of weird occurrences to offer as evidence.

    The other thing happened more recently, and until today I think the only other person who knows about it is Sammi, who was there when it happened. One afternoon she and I were driving by the site of Ginny’s accident, where a little memorial exists for those who died. As we passed it, I waved, almost involuntarily, as if someone were standing there. But there wasn’t anyone there. I wasn’t thinking anything unusual and I’ve never had that compulsion before or since. We were both kind of freaked out – Sammi asked what the hell I was doing and I was like I don’t know, it just happened. As crazy as it may sound, I kind of wonder if there was something there.

Thanks for all your great questions. If I don’t get around to posting again in the next few days, I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas or other holiday of your choice. Take care, and thank you for reading!

12 Replies to “and the went in the went for it”

  1. Hey, this was a fun exercise. Very democratic! I hope it relieved some of the Writer’s Bloc you’ve felt.

    Happy days and sock monkeys,
    -cK

  2. He’d tell ’em to use the form of a question! …and I thought it was Alex but then thought better of it and search for Alec on google – there were a convincing number of entries so I just went with it. I’m so ashamed!

  3. New Years 2002 I was all alone in my apartment in Harrisonburg crying and lonely, because my roommates were all in Times Sqaure and my family was all at home. If that helps you figure out where you were.

  4. In fact, maybe this comment is the best thing that happened to me this year.

    I feel the same way. Merry Christmas!

  5. confusion reigns, although that’s no surprise coming from me. i see that a ginny posts comments here a lot, but now you say ginny’s accident and reference death. is your sister alive? or not?

    i hate to be so bluntly nosy, but i like you and want to keep my personal information about you straight.

    does that sound too straightforwardly cold?

  6. Fear not – Ginny is alive and well. She survived a very serious car accident in 2004 – see here for the story: http://www.loriestories.com/?p=228

    Three high school students were killed in that accident, hence the death references. Now you’re all caught up!

  7. Yep. There are scars on my feet from surgeries. I have a long scar on my upper left thigh from catching it on a metal keyboard tray track thingie a few years ago. There’s one on my right hip from falling down the porch stairs a few more years ago. I have a couple of small scars from cat scratches. I have a few on my hands from cuts and closing them in things. There’s one on my back from a burn I got when I was a baby. And I have a small one above my left eye from running into a tennis gate when I was about 10.

    The moral of the story: I’m a clumsy one.

  8. Lorie, I just got myself caught up with the accident postings – I just ran the gamut of crushing sadness, to hope, to relief all in ten minutes. All I can say is sorry, keep your family close, and I’m happy to know that Ginny is well and cracking life out. Both my parents were given crappy health news this year but who knew it would bring a close family even closer? Happy Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza y’all!

  9. Dude, I just realized that you were dissing me and I am, in fact, NOT your secret crush. I call bullshit.

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