Archive for the ‘meme time’ Category
“Inside the Actors’ Studio” Questionnaire
Just before my mom arrived, one of my fascinations became watching episodes of Bravo TV’s Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton on YouTube.
[Loved when Will Ferrell did his Lipton impersonation on Saturday Night Live!]
I’m not a movie or theater buff by any means, but I find something so inspirational and moving in watching real actors–and by that I mean those who are truly artists–speaking about their craft, life, love and more.
Some of my favorite interviewees have been Robin Williams, Al Pacino, Jodie Foster, Kevin Spacey, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia (of course!) . . . the list could go on and on.
Seriously, I recommend setting aside a few hours if you start exploring this YouTube option.
And P.S. if anyone is able to put more clips on, I’d love to see Morgan Freeman, Sydney Pollack, Carol Burnett, David Duchovny, Peter Falk, oh just all of them (see a list of all past guests here.)
The most well-known part of the program is probably the 10 questions that come from the French series Bouillon de Culture hosted by Bernard Pivot; Lipton asks these of each and every guest on Inside the Actors Studio and the answers are often witty, always intriguing.
Since I don’t anticipate appearing on that stage anytime soon, I thought it would be fun to do on the blog; here are the questions and my answers:
- What is your favorite word? Lollygagging
- What is your least favorite word? Hate
- What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Someone pursuing their passion
- What turns you off? Condescension
- What is your favorite curse word? Cazzo (Italian slang for penis but equivalent to our F-bomb in severity)
- What sound or noise do you love? Laughter, laughter and more laughter
- What sound or noise do you hate? Mosquitoes
- What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Pastry chef
- What profession would you not like to do? Trash collector
- If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Your family is this-a-way
What are your answers?
Please feel free to play along in the comments or post to your own blog!
Hey, did I just create a meme?
Buon weekend and
check out Judith‘s sandwich buns for La Buona Cucina Americana!
time for some fun with flickr!
If you don’t already know, I enjoy Flickr *very* much. You can find me under the name “bleeding espresso” and always see my latest photos–I don’t post all my photos on the blog, so please feel free to add me as a friend to be kept up to date!
Before I got involved with Flickr, I didn’t realize it was a whole other community where you can make even more virtual friends; that’s certainly been a fun surprise.
I also thank Flickr for introducing me to MOO cards–tiny business cards, basically, but made with your own photos. I can’t wait to see them; I had them sent to my mom, and she and the cards will be here in a week!
The other day I found yet another way to have fun with Flickr via meme at Blogjem. Here is my mosaic:
Wanna play? Here are the rules:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.
Fun fun fun!
Special thanks to these Flickr folks for helping create my mosaic:
1. Art by Michelle Caplan, 2. i heart pizza margherita, 3. IMG_2745.JPG, 4. i can taste summer! a.k.a. childhood summer! a.k.a. childhood reminiscence! a.k.a. those were the good times!, 5. Picture of Andy Garcia (DSCN0193), 6. 9 coffe favorites, 7. ‘So what are you doing this Australia Day ?’, 8. Black Forest, 9. Happiness, 10. llibreria – bookstore – Amsterdam, 11. The Great Escape, 12. Cappuccino
Let me know if you play along!
things left unsaid
I’m a fan of being honest.
And I do try to tell my loved ones how important they are to me as much as possible.
Sometimes, though, there are things you’d really like to say to someone but don’t, or can’t, for various reasons–avoidance, tact, shame, embarrassment, shyness, whatever.
I got this idea from -R- at And You Know What Else (who got it from Abbersnail who got it from NPW), and here are 15 things I haven’t said (not all to the same person of course):
1. As much as I don’t want your opinion to matter to me, it does, and it hurts.
2. I’m still sad that our friendship changed so much; I miss you terribly.
3. You don’t know how much seeing your name in my inbox makes me happy.
4. I’m sorry for what is going on with you and your family, but you created the situation.
5. I miss laughing with you *so* much.
6. I am so happy we didn’t work out. So. Very. Happy.
7. I can’t believe you’ve procreated.
8. I’ll never understand your outlook on the world, and that’s a good thing; I’d hate to see the world as you do.
9. You’re becoming your mother. Stop it.
10. I really, truly hope you are happy even though I’ll probably never speak to you again.
11. I’ll never forget the night I met you, and I will always treasure it.
12. Just thinking of you makes me smile. Always.
13. I forgive you, and you don’t even know for what. I forgive you for that too.
14. I think about you every single day at least once, usually more.
15. I’m so very sorry I’m not there watching you learn new things every day.
What haven’t you said?
Buon weekend!
expat countdown meme
My fellow American in Calabria, Cherrye of My Bella Vita, did this meme a looooong time ago, but I’m just getting around to it.
She got it from Expat Travels: From Switzerland to Canada (where I saw it as well) who got it from The CanadianSwiss Blog…and as I’ve been promising Diane of Martinis for Two that I’d talk a bit more about my expat feelings, I figured now was as good a time as any to do this one.
* Name 5 things you love in your new country:
- Knowing that a neighbor always has something I need–parsley, lemons, tomatoes, gossip (yes, even things I don’t need!).
- The sea, the sea, the beautiful Ionian Sea and the mountains, the mountains, the gorgeous mountains–all from my balcony!
- Fresh, organic food that is readily available and relatively inexpensive.
- Clean, fresh air.
- Not having to worry about health insurance.
* Name 4 things that you miss from your native country:
- My family and friends, of course.
- Ethnic food of any kind other than Italian/Calabrian.
- Jeans that I like and that fit me well.
- American sports, especially watching my Duke Blue Devils this time of year (and especially *especially* when they beat Carolina).
* Name 3 things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:
- Silvio Berlusconi.
- The pathetic salaries in sharp contrast to the high cost of living.
- Did I mention Berlusconi?
* Name 2 things that surprise you (or have surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:
- How difficult it has been to get to know Italian women as friends.
- The entire Italian education system, including how long it takes many to get through university.
* Name 1 thing that you would terribly miss in your new country, if you had to leave it.
- Well, P of course, but also the Italian language. I’m not sure I could do without it anymore. I came here knowing nothing, but now I’m addicted.
Fellow expats, do play along!
But hey, even if you’ve moved from one place to another within the same country, I’d be interested to read your answers to this meme–sometimes moving within a country can feel just as foreign as hopping the pond.
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[tags]expats, italy, expats in italy, memes[/tags]
year end meme
What’s the end of a year without a little reflection on what’s happened, where we’ve been, and what we’ve done?
Well over at Sundry Mourning, there’s a little tradition of the Year End meme, first copied from Gwen’s Petty, Judgmental, Evil Thoughts back in 2004.
I filled it out last year, which you can find here, and now it’s time to look back on 2007.
Feel free to play along and let me know where to find you!
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? Raised puppies from birth, dyed my hair, made Christmas cookies on a wide scale, used a cookie press, slept in a bed & breakfast (Hi Cherrye!), made money from my blog, became a professional blogger, sent out Italian Christmas cards, made hummus, made bagels, acted as an interpreter, wrote 25,0o0 words in a month.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Don’t make ’em; can’t break ’em. I might make some this year, though, just to mix things up. We’ll see.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No family or close friends, but some blogfriends–and a whole lot of expats in Italy are preggers now, quite a few due any day!
4. Did anyone close to you die? My great-aunt’s daughter Jeanie as I wrote about here and my mom’s friend Kitty who was like a grandmother to me and who I wrote about here.
5. What countries did you visit? Just Italia.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? More writing gigs as always, and a book contract wouldn’t suck either. Ooh, and a real vacation.
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 20 birth of the puppies. I think that’s all.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Probably the development of this blog and its amazing community. I’m also pretty proud of losing more weight and maintaining it–aah, and finding a pair of pants in Italy that fit me and that I like! Woohoo!
9. What was your biggest failure? It’s not really my personal failure, but I had hoped to be in the new house by now.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Only recently with a nasty stomach virus followed up by a sinus infection. Love being sick over the holidays!
11. What was the best thing you bought? My ADSL contract with Telecom (although it *does* have its issues).
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I said my doggie Luna last year, and I’m going with her again but for different reasons. This year she accepted a new dog in the house followed by six puppies–all in stride. She’s such a trooper.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Going with the Bush administration again on this one. Can’t wait to have a new administration to be appalled and depressed by.
14. Where did most of your money go? Internet and phone bills (but so worth it), just like last year.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The camera from Salena–I’m *still* really, really, really excited about that.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Geez probably the theme songs from, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, and Veronica Mars since they’ve served as my background noise most of the year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? Hmm, I’d say happier, a few pounds lighter, and there’s money in the bank–I’m richer (although “rich” is a strong word).
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Yoga and fiction writing.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Anything other than fiction writing.
20. How did you spend Christmas? With P and his parents for the first half and then cradling my throbbing face for the second half. Fun times.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007? Have you seen the puppies?
22. What was your favorite TV program? Lost.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don’t hate the players, just the game sometimes.
24. What was the best book you read? Ooh, tough one. Eat Pray Love sticks out.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Adriano Celentano although it’s not so much a discovery as a more intense dedication. Love that voice.
26. What did you want and get? An expansion of my writing career.
27. What did you want and not get? To be in the new house by Christmas.
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Haven’t seen anything new in a long time. Favorite new-to-me film? Pirates of the Caribbean. Just when I thought I couldn’t love Johnny Depp more.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 31 and honestly, I don’t remember what happened–a sure sign of getting old as it was only two months ago.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Same answer as last year: if someone in my family or close circle of friends from home would have visited or if I would’ve been able to go home.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Comfortable is key.
32. What kept you sane? My doggies, the Internet, fellow expats, blogs, emails, phone calls, and my writing.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I’ve enjoyed Milo Ventimiglia despite the fact that P won’t let me watch Heroes. Have to get my Milo fix via GG.
34. What political issue stirred you the most? The concept of universal health care versus how it’s carried out in certain (ahem) countries.
35. Who did you miss? My family and my girlfriends from home more than ever.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Lots of online buddies, of course, but in person, one of my students who has become a friend.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. A positive attitude positively makes a positive difference.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. With the risk of getting (a lot) sappy, it’s hard to put into words how much this past year of my life has been enriched by all of you who take the time to read, comment, write, and share your lives through these Internets. And so, from Natalie Merchant:
You’ve been so kind and generous
I don’t know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I’m in debt to you
For your selflessness my admiration
For everything you’ve done you know I’m bound
I’m bound to thank you for it.
And how was your year?
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[tags] year end meme, memes[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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