I love this one because yeah, it's a meme, but it might prompt you to talk about something that it wouldn't otherwise have occurred to post about. You can play too:

- Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
- I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
- You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
- You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
- When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Today's questions are courtesy of Caryn (and it only took me a week to do them...).

(1) Do you collect anything? What is it? What got you started?
I used to collect a lot of stuff, but along the way I seem to have just sort of... stopped. Most of what I seem to collect now are unintentional things like luggage and throw pillows, both of which I can’t seem to stop buying. I do keep tickets to everything I go to that requires one (movies, plays, hockey games).

(2) Talk about a childhood memory you enjoy.
In second grade I met Jason (who eventually became my first love), and we became pretty much inseparable. We would play at each others' houses, and one day we decided to make a tape. It's full of the usual childhood silliness- us trying to get his parakeet to talk, making monkey noises, imitating people from TV, etc. His little sister was about 5 at the time, and at one point you hear her on the tape screaming in the background because we wouldn't let her play with us, and then Jason's voice "That was Emily screaming..." For some reason that was always my favorite part of the recording, and I can still hear bits of it perfectly.

(3) Describe your perfect engagement ring.
Okay, the honest and boring answer to this is that I really want the love and companionship that comes with the ring, so if the love is there, any ring will do. That said, what I really want is:
A 3 stone ring, total weight of at least 2 carats. Princess, round, oval or cushion cut diamonds, set in platinum. This is my dream ring.

(4) List five things you are grateful for.
1. My parents. I really under appreciated them when I was younger, especially my mom, who is one of the most awesome people I know. I would not be who I am if it wasn't for them.
2. My health. Let’s face it, I’m a fat chick. That comes with a whole slew of potential health issues, and I’m grateful that I am in good enough health to be able to take the steps necessary to avoid getting really sick in the future.
3. Good friends. I know everyone thinks their friends are the best, or the most awesome, but they're wrong. My friends are. They know how to have a great time and are always there in a jam. And a few of them have managed to turn Little Miss Picky Eater into someone who enjoys a much wider range of foods including sushi and Ethiopian.
4. Cell phone insurance. I have an expensive phone (courtesy of a good friend with good job connections) which I recently dropped into water and ruined. Rather than costing me $300 to replace, it only cost me $50.
5. The SCA. It may be a totally nerdtastic thing to be into, but it has made me a better person because the core values (other than the re-creationist aspects) are to strive to be courteous to everyone, to be helpful, and the very important "Leave a place cleaner than when you found it" which applies to pretty much anything you borrow or use that belongs to someone else. I think growing up in the SCA definitely had an impact on the person that I am today. And it's FUN.

(5) What is one of your guilty pleasures?
Bad reality TV, especially on Bravo. I like watching the competitions- I don't watch for the interpersonal drama, though it can occasionally be entertaining. Top Design sucked way harder than I wanted it to, but the guy I decided was my favorite in the first episode ended up winning the whole thing, so that was cool.

(I started drafting this like, 2 weeks ago, but never finished it)

I just had a thought, and I thought, instead of just IMing it to a friend and saying, "I just had this thought, and it is [insert thought here]. I should post about that," that I should just post it first.

One of my mini pet peeves is the use of the word Bible for anything other than the actual Bible. I know it's a made up word mishmashed from a greek origin, like most of the words in the English language, but still. Used in context, the Bible is a collection of writings essential to living a Godly life. If you don't happen to believe that, that's fine. But if you don't believe in the Bible as "The Bible", don't use that word for other books. A search on Amazon for "bible" pulls up three pages of items. Other than the expected related religious texts, there is The Crystal Bible, The Barbeque Bible, The Sales Bible, The Produce Bible, The Cake Bible, The Wine Bible and The Little Cookie Bible. Why is this acceptable? There's no "Wine Torah". There's no "Produce Koran". It's only a mini-peeve, but it still bugs me.

That said, I have absolutely no problem calling the Stanley Cup "The Holy Grail of Hockey". Maybe because the Holy Grail is a legend, and not the basis for my spiritual life, but still. I am amused that one bothers me so much and one doesn't.

(this post contains a lot of SCA-speak)
I went to the Mists-Cynagua War on Saturday. It was pouring rain and rather cold in the early part of the day, and there was lots of mud everywhere. Duke Jade, who also happens to be Crown Prince of the West, was autocrat, and as such spent a LOT of time spreading gravel over the mud so people wouldn't slip and fall. I didn't think too hard about that, because he *was* the autocrat, and that's what the autocrat does. And while he is Crown Prince, somehow that is different in my head than King or Prince of a Principality. However, when I spotted Sir Brion, Prince of the Mists, scrubbing mud off of the potluck tables with a blue towel, I could not let that continue.

Me: Your Highness, you should not be doing that...
His Highness, Prince Brion: Eh... (dismissive gesture)
Me: Your Highness, Please? (holding out my hand for the towel)
HHPB: Thank you. (hands me the towel, and I scrub scrub scrub)

The fighters had used the tables earlier in the day to do a ravine battle, with those having been killed climbing over the tables to get out of the way of the live fighters. This resulted in a whole lot of mud all over the tables- tables we were using to eat the potluck dinner. My arms are sore and my hands hurt from all the scrubbing, but at least I can feel better about skipping the gym this weekend, because scrubbing tables apparently works up a sweat.

It's no secret that I suffer from depression and that I'm on medication for it. I don't tend to talk about it much because it's not something I choose to focus on, other that taking daily measures (no pun intended) to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. It's part of who I am, and I'm not ashamed of it. It doesn't mean that it doesn't suck though.

Not even in the general manner where when you're depressed, everything sucks. Because a lot of the time, even when I find myself down in a valley, I still don't have a generalized "life as a whole sucks a giant rock" attitude. I dated a guy once who suffered such crippling depression that he couldn't get out of bed some days. Ultimately it was his depression that was the death of our relationship- he stopped caring about anything other than being depressed, and just sort of drifted away.

Most of the time when I get depressed I just start to feel very very alone, even if I'm not. I think that that's a lot of why my singleness hits me so hard a lot of the time- because there's usually a touch of depression lurking under my surface, even when I'm happy, and it doesn't always take a lot to trigger it. Oddly, reading about the happiness of others triggers it. That seems counterintuitive to me, when others are happy it should make me happy. Instead it reminds me of the things I long for, and makes me sad. I hate that. I really, really fucking hate that.

I'm not sure if there is a point to what I'm trying to say here. I'm not trying to be a drama queen, I'm not trying to say poor me, everyone has what I want but me. In general, I'm pretty happy with my life, my life is good. I have people I care about, who care about me. There are things that I want- a relationship, a marriage, children, the picket fence and the dog. But deep inside, in the most honest part of myself, I know I'm not ready for that. There is growing I need to do and there are things I need to learn and habits I need to change. Just because I know those things, it doesn't make the wanting go away, and it doesn't make not having them hurt any less, because you can't reason with your emotions.

Why is it that every time I feel the need to have a big, messy, lots of tears and snot emotional breakdown, it's always 11pm and too late to call anyone, especially when the people who'd be most receptive to that kind of call are all, oh I don't know, at least two time zones away, and the one who lives in this timezone is currently in freaking SPAIN? I'm just wondering.

More filler but wow, so true! Got this from an old HMB friend. There is real content coming very very soon.

1. You love the sight of fog rolling over the hills as you drive over 92, coming back from "over the hill".

2. You went "down the hill" for lunch in high school, and realized you've eaten at every place in Strawflower Village more than 100 times by the time you're a senior.

3. You say "hella" and "shluh" among other various slang unique to Half Moon Bay, or at least know what it means.

4. You went to beach parties with bonfires, and the cops probably broke them up.

5. You knew the cops and/or their families by name.

6. If you had older siblings, your teachers would always have to mention something about them.

7. El Gran Amigo vs. Tres Amigos -- will we ever agree? (burrito places)

8. Cunha's Country Store has a special place in your heart.

9. You were secretly happy when that one hotel that was blocking your ocean view got burned down...

10. You're proud of Maverick's Beach. (One of the most dangerous beaches in the world)

11. You know what "3 Palm" is and remember exactly what went on there (or not...).

12. In high school, you painted various body parts orange and black (usually a paw print and your graduating year on your cheeks) and went to at least one Friday night football game, if not all of them.

13. You've driven up Higgins for no particular reason.

14. You own a Coastside, Miramar or Cowboy Surf Shop, or HMB Board Shop, sweatshirt or tee. (I had a Miramar Surf Shop fanny pack in the 6th grade)

15. You wear flip-flops all year long. (I don't, but I could)

16. You have a certain dislike for Pacifica and tend to refer to it as Pathetica or Pasyphillis.

17. You are loyal to a certain coffee shop. (La Di Da, even now)

18. You are used to summer meaning rain and fog.

19. As soon as it's warmer than 65 degrees, you wear shorts and a tank top.

20. You call it Highway 1, not the PCH.

21. If you hook up with anyone the whole town thinks you're a slut.

22. You know when there is a new truck or boy in the town.

23. You can't and won't get away with anything. Everyone knows your parents.

24. It's "Tres"- not "3 amigos"... and it is where you go after every football or basketball game

25. At the high school we learned how to drive TRACTORS (I didn't, but my friends did)

26. People from over the hill tend to disgust you (Even now...)

27. You complained everyday about how there's "Nothing to do in this town", yet you still have bizarre amounts of HMB pride.

28. You either had a probation officer or off the top of your head can think of at least 5 people with one from either smoking weed or stealing alcohol from Rite Aid/Safeway/Long's or other liquor stores on the coast.

29. You skipped school to go to the Maverick's Surf contest just to defend your turf against barneys, or just cause you owned a billabong sweatshirt.

30. Cunha (school not store) dances. enough said. ("Earth Angel" anyone?)

31. You hate the stupid tourists who come here to go to the beach on the weekends in the winter when its cold, foggy and windy...whats the point!?

32. Someone can shout "Whassa matta for you?!" and then start whistling and you know who exactly who they are imitating (Shop teacher Mr. Silva)

33. You know about secret pretty spots that nobody else knows about.

34. down the hill for lunch, over the hill for movies... we dig the hills.

35. Even if you were not on probation, you knew all the probation officers' names. (I didn't know there was more than one.)

36. Bev from Cunha's is special. She really, really, is.

37. By Sunday night, you already had next Friday planned out.

38. You ever stole pumpkins to decorate the school for homecoming.

39. You know there is nothing on earth like a Coffee Co brownie after a San Benito House sandwich.

40. You dread having to drive anywhere near 92 between October 1st and Christmas because of the "pumpkin people" and the "Christmas tree folks".

And just one I have to add... PATM.