Long day and a bonus meme

[altivo]

For finrod7
The Random Meme
The Official Rules: Write a journal entry with 10 random facts about yourself. Then, pick some of your friends list and tag them. These rules should be included in your entry.

I don't tag people. But since finrod7 asked I will do this. (I think I've done it some time ago, but that's all right.)

TEN FACTS ABOUT ALTIVO

1. Many of you know I have two degrees beyond high school, with Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi keys. But you may not know that I studied for the priesthood for a while, and still have the robes, prayerbooks and other appurtenances to show for it.


2. I have been sewing for 45 years, knitting for about the same length of time, and serious about cooking for almost as long. I started weaving and handspinning about 18 years ago, and was a registered teddy bear designer as well. My bears appeared in two books and two magazines in the late 1980s.


3. I have professionally published materials in the following fields: microcomputer hardware, minicomputer system software, teddy bear design, library science and automation, medieval music, and gay liberation movement materials. I also published (and was paid for) a pornographic short story.


4. I was married at age 23, when I was a graduate student. My wife quickly decided that I must be at least bisexual, and started pushing gay men at me. It worked. The marriage ended in an amicable divorce settlement in which she paid me one dollar.


5. My male mate and I have been together for 24+ years and share the same first name and last initial. We met through a personal ad on a computer bulletin board based in St. Louis, Missouri.


6. I am the oldest living member of my immediate family and of my father's and paternal grandfather's lineage. There are some older cousins still living on my mother's side.


7. My hair hasn't been cut since 1979 other than to even up or remove split ends.


8. I own seven microcomputers of various ages. None of them run Windows or Mac operating systems, even though several of them could do so.


9. I have an amateur radio license and a large stack of QSLs and award certificates. I don't use a microphone. Virtually all the radio work I've done was either in morse code or digital modes such as teletype or AMTOR.


10. I can read moderately well in about ten languages, most of which are no longer spoken aloud. I can also read printed or written music notation, which seems to be a dying skill from my point of view.

So. Went to spinning guild today, leaving the animal chores to my mate. (It's fair. He was in Chicago Thursday, leaving them to me.) We drew cards for an "exotic" (meaning unusual) fiber from which we are to make something for next year's show. I got ingeo, which is a synthetic silk product made from corn. It looks and feels much like silk or rayon, but I noticed that if you have a large quantity of it, you can smell the corn. Actually, it smells like Karo(tm) corn syrup, or those awful popcorn balls people make by gluing popcorn together with corn syrup at this time of year. We also had a pot luck luncheon, about half of which consisted of various things with chocolate in them. I should have listed among the items in the meme above the fact that I don't see the point of chocolate and never have. But there were some redeeming goodies as well, nice salads, cookies, cheese and crackers. I made cheese biscuits.

There was a gift grab bag, in which I got a nice acrylic serving tray with a household scene painted on it. My contribution was eight ounces of ready-to-spin roving from one of my sheep, and a printed knitting pattern to create a "Do it yourself sock kit."

The weather is finally starting to warm up, not just to normal, but to warmer than normal. Tomorrow's high temperature may be 50F, which is quite a bit above normal for this time of year.

And that's the news (or non-news) for today.

Comments

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

It reached at least 50 F in Fairmont, MN today and, looking at the thermometer, is currently still around 38 F.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Temperature here has been rising since sunset, which is very weird. I expect fog by morning. It was around 22F at sunset, and is now right around 31 or 32F.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

That was interesting :D

*scribbles down the answers.* ^.^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Of course I may be making it all up.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I seriously doubt that, :P

Equines aren't good at lying, their tail keeps swishing and ears swivel :3
*gives you the kitten eyes* Cats are also very innocent creatures.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Cats are also very innocent creatures.

Actually, cats are just very good at pretending to be innocent, like when they walk away from the canary cage with feathers all stuck in their fur.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*thinks* Curses he's onto me.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

"Three things never trust in: A feather on a cat;
The shepherd eating mutton and the guardsman that is fat."

[altivo.livejournal.com]

What about the fox who guards the henhouse?

[calydor.livejournal.com]

He wasn't in the quote.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No, he was in the henhouse... Or was it the corn? No, wait, the cow's in the corn... Or the meadow... Now I'm totally confused.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! That silly fox takes the fall... again ;)

Uh oh... that was out loud!

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*shows up in the guise of a fox and looks pitiful*

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Awwww... *cuddles the fox-horse*

If I had two chickens, I'd give you one.

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'd settle for an egg. ;D Mmmm, cuddles.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

So... a proto-chicken, then?

I make really good scrambled eggs (or so I'm told).

I'm decent with the cuddles as well. We'll have to try some time, so you can make your own assessment :)

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[kamodragon.livejournal.com]

I actually didn't know any of those things about you; none of which (aside from the teddy bears) were a surprise. I hope that by the time I am midway through my life I can be bearly as accomplished as you are today. It is nice to hear that you have been with your mate for a 1/4 of a century- I pray for the same.. Neat Meme!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Keys to a lasting relationship: communication and tolerance. Curb unreasonable expectations and allow each other some personal space. ;)

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

And pie :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention that. My mate has been known to say that he knew he was in love the first time I made a pie for him.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

What sort of pie was it?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually it wasn't a dessert kind of pie. We went to spend a weekend at his mom's summer cottage. She had been there during the week, and left some things in the fridge for us, including a bowl of her sloppy joes (sort of a barbecue made of ground beef, if that term isn't familiar to you.) We were debating what to have for supper and I said we could make a pie from that, which I proceeded to do.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*slavers* Tell me more about this pie, how did you make it :3
(Excuse this food mad cat)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That was 25 years ago. I think I just made some pastry, put the barbecue into it and added some shaved onion and mushrooms, covered it over and baked it.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Ooooo....I wish I had some pie like that now.
*gnaws on his tail*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*pulls tail from your mouth*

Don't do that, you'll make it all ratty looking.

*hands you a cheese biscuit*

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*hoorays and snarfles the cheese biscuit*

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Sounds perfect, the scent of corn, silky sensations, chocolate, and
(my fave) salad!

A good time for all it seems. ^.~

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Salad with pasta in it. Yummy. ;p

The part about poisoning half the food with chocolate, though, I never have quite understood.

[dongstyle-ltd.livejournal.com]

One possible reason why much of the world is chocolate-crazy: The presence of phenylathalamine. In essence it's a happy drug, although I forget whether it's an endorphin or dopaminergic substrate or what (probably the former). Despite many reports of the effects, I've never really noticed this myself and so don't understand the point of chocolate either, nor the majority of candy but if it's there and I'm busy, then hell, I'll eat it anyway- I need whatever glucose I can get.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I've seen this explanation before, and it might be the right one. I appear to be immune to the common things that are supposed to raise endorphin levels and produce the effects people find so pleasant. Either my levels are already high enough that the stimulus produces no noticeable results or else I'm just immune to the effect. This has always been the case with me.

Chocolate is OK. I don't actively dislike it, but I am not inclined to seek it out either.